To teach better science, you need to like science
Written
in 2015, the 19-year-old mentioned in this rant about science in education in
Aotearoa, is about to turn 29, is well into her nursing career, and has her own 'experimental' family. I’m sure she has her own thoughts about what she wants her children to
learn as they grow. Photo above 12 year old (now 21) working on his science fair project
I have a
great laboratory in my own home with four experimental subjects: two girls and
two boys aged 12 to 19. Over the years I
have collected a growing body of qualitative data in the realm of science
curriculum and science teaching. While I
do think that Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) are undervalued
in the New Zealand school system, I think this is recognized and actively
challenged and I applaud any programmes that work to address this. A few events in my own interaction with the
education system as a parent stand out in my mind.
A few years
ago, it dawned on me that the kids had never had a ‘science’ book. Every year we spend a significant money on
stationary – books for spelling and writing, art and special topics, but none
labelled “science’. This seemed to be a
gaping black hole in the visibility of sciences in the primary education
system. I sent a very polite email to
our principal asking for understanding as to how science was treated in the
school (yes I became that parent). I was invited over for a meeting. A meeting.
Woah serious. To his credit, the
principal took my request for information seriously and also acknowledged that
it may well be an area that each school could approach more actively. Essentially, science topics came under an ‘inquiry’
strand or special topics, but special topics may or may not be of a scientific
nature. It was entirely up to individual
teachers to choose a topic of inquiry, scientific or not, as they saw fit. Special topics could be historical, such 16th
century royalty, or social, such as child labour in third world countries, or global
issues based such as slavery.
The principal
volunteered that it was conceivable that a child may NEVER get a science topic
in their whole primary school experience with many competing worthy topics at
the discretion of teachers. I did wonder
if a simple fix would be to have a science book and time set aside for science
enquiry, skills and literacy as well as the possibility of delving deeper into
a science topic once a year. It is so
dependent on the interests of teachers, and I suspect research into this area
would reveal a significant supply of our teacher love languages, history, music
and art which is wonderful as an early influence, but kids also need teachers
who are passionate about science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM). I was so inspired by the speakers this week at
a Science in Teaching conference I happened to have a VUW display at, who
creatively introduced scientific concepts such as categories and taxonomies,
ecology, environmental studies and sustainability. It almost makes me want to be a teacher.
Two of my experimental
subjects (my kids) have experienced science at secondary school. I can see evidence for John Gilbert’s (a
secondary physics teacher who contributes widely t to policy and practice) comments
that many teachers fail to connect the content of the school curriculum to the challenges
that people face – in other words, they fail to see the science of the world around
them, in the world around them. My 15-year-old
daughter is a capable student and generally feels ‘so what’ of science. Science is compulsory in her year, level one,
NCEA, and the teachers who are effective are good at addressing the ‘so what’
of their class content. I have enjoyed
talking to my girls about the research of Victoria University researchers such
as Professors Kate McGrath and David Ackerly who are working on new materials
for repairing human bone, and nano treatments for cancer respectively. If
science lessons were framed in real life applications maybe this would help
bring the ‘concepts in isolation’ (Gilbert) and abstract ideas to a real-life
reality for more students. Effective
science communicators learn how to tell the story or the human history of what
they’re looking at under the microscope.
A lesson on nuclear physics could be framed in the story about the
Fukushima disaster – become both a science enquiry and a human history lesson. A lesson in water purity could be framed in a
story about the provision of water in a third world nation. A materials lesson could be framed in a story
about the development of human bone plastics.
The anatomy of a plant could be framed within a real world environmental
problem and ecological fixes.
Context-based learning can help to move from a curriculum that teaches
facts for facts sake to establishing the learning skills required to engage in
inquiry and help a young learner consider life beyond school. While these are
secondary school levels topics, there are relevant versions at all levels.
My eldest,
now 19 struggled through level one science.
She was relieved when the year came to an end and science was no longer
compulsory. During the year following, she became interested in nursing and
applied to pick up level three biology, outside the norms for her school, to
increase her chances of acceptance into a tertiary nursing programme. For her the ‘so what’ had been answered. Science was no longer about a set of facts that
needed to be memorized, but part of journey to a very people-focused vocation. Now in her second year at university she rattles
off scientific terms, concepts and applications with the ease of someone for
whom science has always been easy.
My two
youngest, about to turn 13, have had the most benefit of my own interest in
science, of introducing them to inquiry and critical thinking. I was finally impressed this year by one of
the boy’s teachers who still has the wonder of scientific inquiry apparent in
his teaching methods. He actually
apologized for not yet giving the boys many class notes but leads class
discussion online, posts lots of interesting clips from NASA and Hubble during
a topic on astronomy and encouraged the boys to find their own material to
share with the class. His enthusiasm for
science is contagious, and I think this will serve these 12-year-old boys better
than books full of facts. This teacher
is very connected to real life applications of science and the ‘so what’ of why
we bother.
Teachers ‘guide
the social process of learning’. Their
job is to inspire, challenge and excite their students to pursue and engage in
learning for themselves. As with all
forms of science communication, our ultimate learning experiences are not just
when knowledge is transferred from one head to another but when the learner
becomes enthusiastic about engaging in learning for themselves. From my biased observations of my own small
family sample this is obvious. Students will
benefit from a teacher who is excited about their topic, who is enthusiastic
and who inspires their students to engage for themselves.
In my home,
science education and critical thinking has become part of my parenting. We
talk about vaccinations and nanotechnology, the big issues of environmental
concern, sustainability and equitable access to natural resources. We talk about privilege and the
responsibility that comes with that. I
invite them to think about the world, ask questions and test their hypotheses. Science and how it’s communicated has become
part of the dinner communication.
However, at the end of the day science may not inspire the, and that is
fine to me. Even with the most inspiring
science teachers each of them will choose their own path, they may be inspired
by literature, entrepreneurship or floristry but scientific literacy along with
other aspects such as mathematical literacy, emotional literacy and
relationship literacy will help them be healthy well-rounded adults hopefully
able to meet the unique challenges of the future.
Post: In 2024, all
of my experimental subjects are now beyond tertiary education. One chose nursing
(biology, anatomy, health) one chose electrical (physics, magnetics, maths) one
chose accounting (business, maths) and one has left a few doors open after
studying justice (forensics, social systems, psychology, history).
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