My Vision for Science Education

For this blog entry, describe the actions that you are taking beyond your immediate classroom to ensure that all students at your school or district are experiencing high-quality science instruction. When working with colleagues or other school/district staff, what challenges have you faced in your efforts to improve the science program at your school and district?  How have you overcome these obstacles?

It pains me to read a statement like, "We face a real crisis in science education in America" (McGinnis & Roberts-Harris, 2009).  As a science educator, I want to be proud of the direction that our science education is going in this country.  That said, I have been working hard over the past seven years to deliver quality science instruction to all of my sixth grade students.  However, one year of experiencing science the way it should be experienced, is simply not enough.  Therefore, over the past few years, I have begun working with other members of my science education team within the Amanda-Clearcreek District in an attempt to bring high quality science to students at every level.

As a secondary staff (Grades 6-12), we have been meeting for  monthly science meetings to discuss STEM and inquiry based education.  Learning where my students are going is a great help to me in terms of planning inquiry based lessons.  Furthermore, it helps to learn new strategies from my peers for delivering and scaffolding high quality inquiry lessons.  This year, I have started attending the elementary science meetings in an effort to learn where my sixth grade students have been.  This is helping me understand my role in their science journey.  Furthermore, I have been able to share with elementary teachers so that they know where their students will be going in the future and can plan accordingly.

The most daunting challenge facing me right now is the fact that many teachers choose to "teach to the test" is lieu of teaching for STEM education and the students' future in science.  These teachers earn high scores on the state standardized tests and do not see a need to teach inquiry-based lessons.  I honestly say that I can not blame them, especially in the age of merit pay and other issues facing us regarding our test scores.  However, I believe it is doing a huge disservice to our students.

McGinnis, J. R., & Robert-Harris, D. (2009, September/October). A new vision for teaching science. Scientific American Mind, 62–67. 

What's Our Sputnik?

Thomas Friedman's article, What's Our Sputnik?, includes some very harsh statements.  However, I can't say that I disagree with most of his points about the future of our country.  The tone of his article makes the United States seem like a nosy big brother who can not let his younger brother stand on his own.  We are spending too much time, money and resources worrying about other countries.  Meanwhile, our own country is falling behind in critical areas.

Friedman points out that we need a spark similar to Sputnik in the 1950s to get our country motivated.  He states, "Nevertheless, I hope Americans see China's rise as the 21st century equivalent of Russia launching the Sputnik satellite--a challenge to which we responded with a huge national effort that revived our education, infrastructure and science and propelled use for 50 years" (Friedman, 2010).  As a society, we need some sort of Sputnik-like spark to light a fire under this country.  We have more technology in our cellular phones, than the entire space ship carrying Neil Armstrong to the moon contained.  Yet, we remain complacent when it comes to STEM education.  However, waiting on this event to come could be disastrous as we fall farther behind each day.  It is our responsibility as citizens of this country to bring the passion and honor back to the field of science.  We have to find a way to get our young people interested by science.  Actions must be taken at all levels; national, state and local; to bring science education back to the forefront of importance in this country. 

Other countries, such as Taiwan, are emerging on the forefront of science through hard work.  Taiwan, despite having no natural resources, has "amasses the fourth-largest foreign currency reserves in the world" (Friedman, 2010).  We need to bring this work ethic and passion back to the United States.  We have the intelligence and opportunity in this country to once again be the scientific world powerhouse.  However, we have to be willing to put forth the effort to achieve this goal.

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