A tip for improving science practices outside of your own classroom

As science instructors I feel it is important to try and reach out beyond the classroom to improve the learning experience of all students and not just those we teach.  I know that a lot of teachers have a hard time doing this especially when it comes to finding time.  Here is what I do and what I recommend: share lesson plans.  At my school we use area curriculum meetings to collaborate with other science teachers and determine what is and is not working.  Often teachers have a lot of insight to share. Not all teachers have the opportunity to seek master’s degrees or doctorates and this can mean that not all teachers stay on top of new ideas behind teaching.    Teachers with more experience can often offer great tips based on experience especially in areas like classroom management.  Newer teachers can tend to be more understanding of new teaching strategies that were not taught when old teachers were certified.  Collaborating with other professionals helps all teachers become more prepared to work with challenges in the classroom. Next time you are at a meeting with your grade level or content area try sharing some of your better lessons and you might just get a lot back.  This could lead to you ultimately saving time in the lesson design process.

I will add that the one barrier that can often come to sharing lessons is that all teachers work with different types of students.  At my school I am the only inclusion teacher so I need lessons geared towards working with special education students where others might only need lessons for gifted or advanced placement students.  Just no it is always ok to take lessons from a colleague and modify it for your own purpose.  

What Could be Our Generation's Sputnik

There’s no denying that Sputnik’s launch in 1957 had a tremendous impact on America’s outlooks on science.  As the article What’s Our Sputnik shows, the launching of a satellite over fifty years ago led to an increased government support for science related funding.  This funding even paved the foundations for the creation of the internet (Friedman, 2010). All of this is because US foreign policy of the 50’s had us pitted in a race for superiority with the Soviet Union.  Most likely the funding that followed Sputniks launch was America’s way of developing young minds in order to progress science so we would be the first nation to land on the moon. 

When looking back on how science education boomed after Sputnik, I think it is very likely that a similar situation could occur in our near future.  Like US relations with the Soviet Union, the United States is again finding that foreign policy is creating tense situations overseas.   We rely on other countries for oil as a natural resource and we outsource a lot of our jobs particularly in manufacturing. Additionally the US has taken a role as world police in regards to regulating the creation of nuclear weapons.   I think all of these things can lead to a new Sputnik like era for science education in the US.   For one thing I feel that global warming and rising oil prices are two main factors leading to the development of a renewable clean burning resource for energy.   Perhaps the US will invest heavily in a defense program based on new technology or develop more jobs by creating our own manufacturing plants.   Any of these could lead to the government realizing that science education is underfunded and undervalued.

One particular opponent I see is China.  China already holds a large portion of jobs that were taken from American soil.  Furthermore, China has a strong national pride for education.   Their students go through longer school weeks and progress at a faster rate.   I feel China has a plan to overtake a large portion of the financial world particularly when it comes to developing new technologies.   All of this could be because their national government does a better job at promoting STEM education.  I think this should serve as an eye opener to the US.  Currently we are doing many things to progress research in some of the areas I mentioned but I wonder, are they getting enough government funding?  Are government funds being allotted to increase science education? I have seen many budget cuts that have affected class sizes and our ability to use funds for educational laboratory learning. Luckily I feel like we are being proactive by starting development now rather than waiting for a real crisis.

Reference

 Friedman, T. L. (2010, January 17). What’s our sputnik? [Op-Ed]. The New York Times [Late Edition (East Coast)], p. WK.8.