IAU UK National Astronomy Education Coordinators (NAEC)
The Network of IAU National Astronomy Education Coordinator Teams (NAEC Teams) of the IAU Office of Astronomy for Education (OAE) connects the OAE with the astronomy education communities in the different countries. We are now looking to create the UK NAEC team of up to five experts in astronomy education. Experts in primary and secondary education, as well as in astronomy education research, will be considered. As outlined by the IAU, NAEC Teams should be diverse both in terms of gender as well as in terms of a country’s geographic regions, ethnicities and languages, where applicable.
Each NAEC team is meant to help the OAE document and analyse how astronomy is used in teaching in its country, identify existing relevant actions and support IAU-coordinated activities for the professional development of teachers and the development of high-quality educational material tailored to the specific needs of groups and school levels. Each NAEC team will be the interface between the IAU/OAE and the astronomy education community in its country, particularly creating a link from the IAU to teachers interested in astronomy and in using astronomy as a tool for teaching science in primary and secondary school. As well as this, there will be a number of UK NAEC meetings throughout the year as the team responds to ongoing IAU events and activities. The team will be led by Dr Sheila Kanani at the Royal Astronomical Society, and also work closely with the IAU UK National Outreach Coordinator, Professor Robert Walsh. This is a voluntary role and is for three years in the first instance. The role is open to any nationality but it is expected that the NAEC is based in the UK.
To find out more information as well as applying via our online form, please go to tinyurl.com/UKNAEC . If you have any queries regarding the role, please contact Professor Robert Walsh (rwwalsh@uclan.ac.uk) or Dr Sheila Kanani (skanani@ras.ac.uk) .
Application deadline: 5pm Monday 19th October 2020