Introduction

Informal and formal astronomy education is present through many channels: newspapers and TV; amateur associations; clubs and science associations; at school at any level. The teachers are not only the main agents of the educational process at school, but they are also very active in extra-curricular activities: they run clubs, educational projects etc.

These activities are present everywhere in the world, as can be seen from the reading of the National Reports published every 3 years by Commission 46 “Astronomy Teaching” of the International Astronomical Union and published in its Newsletter.

A quick look at these reports shows that there is a huge variety of educational systems from one country to another: some countries have a specific curriculum in astronomy, others are just beginning to develop it; in other places, astronomy has been considerably reduced in the newly created curricula. One more difference: in some countries, education has a national curriculum; in others the responsibility for teaching is left entirely to each Province, a term used here to refer to the local situation. Such a situation and its consequences was were depicted by Wentzel (Williamstown IAU Colloquium 105, 1986).

Why Astronomy in the curricula?

In spite of these differences, a general trend can be drawn: it is very rare that astronomy is considered as a separate subject; it is nearly everywhere part of the programme either of Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry or Natural Sciences.