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A Newsletter Exploring Science 
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Teachers Are Our Hope If We Are To Be Scientifically Literate
PROPOSED SOLUTIONS TOWARDS SCIENTIFIC LITERACY IN EDUCATION The Colleges of Education must prepare teachers for the actual classrooms within which they will teach. An almost 50% drop out rate of new teachers by five years of service implies not just poor pay, but poor satisfaction - and the poor preparation - we give future teachers. No other profession, not medicine or law or engineering, would tolerate such attrition of their best and brightest, but education declares itself a profession, then bleeds its best. Student teaching in a real classroom should occur before all the ED courses are taken so that the future teacher has a realistic idea of what he or she will face prior to investing in all the course work and four or five years as an undergraduate. Some "bench" scientific work must precede teaching of the subject - the teacher must be credible. That may mean extending the time it takes to prepare science teachers, but there is no better way to answer a child's question, "why do we have to know this," then to have done it for real. For currently certified teachers there must be programs that put teachers to work, during vacation time or with sabbaticals, in cooperating scientific, for-profit industries. The teachers should be paid well and return to the classroom on fire, motivated, refreshed, and full of credibility. Encourage second careerists to retire or retire early and return to schools as teachers with experience using the scientific method, consequent credibility, and a motivation to make a difference. No one should have to endure the intellectually mind-numbing educational training and the self-serving bureaucracy that currently exists more as a "fraternity initiation rite" than as genuine preparation. We need tested and successful experience in front of our kids, and there is a vast unmined and unencouraged resource out there which could be called upon to bring real science to the classroom. Revise current contracts to allow degreed second careerists to work for entry level benefits as any new teacher should. Most of us are willing to do that because our primary motivations are to pay something back for our good fortune, to see the light of recognition shine from behind a child's eyes, and to make a difference in the society we love. Create part-time opportunities for real scientists to teach in classrooms in cooperative unions between schools and industry. Some of these types of programs already exist, I know, but they need better support and promotion. Mentoring should be a two-way street, with experienced teachers helping the scientist deal with classroom management (a huge issue for most of us who are products of more disciplined days) and the scientist helping the teacher with the subject matter. Evaluations such as the MEAP must be changed to allow for testing of knowledge in an enquiry-based, problem-solving, real-world, bench-type science program. Teaching to the test is not learning. Expand programs such as the Kalamazoo Math and Science Center, "Brainworks", AP, or Baccalaureate for more than just the "smart" kids. Teach the scientific method not just as an end in itself, but as a way of thinking and solving all problems, in and out of science class. Emphasize science as one of many threads that make up our fabric by having students choose a scientific or medical "hero" whose biography they will research and report beyond a famous contribution to science by discovering where they came from and what motivated them to become scientists. Invite real scientists into the classroom for presentations. Finally, let us not forget the needs of those students - the vast majority - who are not college bound, but who must be provided with the knowledge and tools to use science and technology in their work or at home. Every child must experience the wonder of understanding the world around us. Michigan's economy must go biotech to revive itself. If we teachers do not prepare the future bench scientists who will make a research corridor a success, who will man those benches, or where will the biotech firms, or the evolving auto industry, go to get their work done? Good scientists and good citizens - we teachers have to take on the responsibility of preparing both. Good luck!
page one page two You may download a PDF format of the actual newsletter. |
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MISMR members strongly support humane animal study in research. We hope that likeminded citizens will join us in working for rational public policy that assures the continued appropriate use of animals in the course of good science. |