Herb Gottlieb has asked "Doesn't ANYBODY have a 'practical solution'
containing the outlines of a long-term plan that might ensure the staffing
of science teachers in the 3 - 12 grade schools?"
My 2-cents-worth offers a couple ideas; some under our control (as
scientists) and some not so much under our control. Let me first mention
that with the proper "hurdles" for licensing (i.e. required courses and
experiences) we can see to it that we don't graduate under-prepared
teachers. I think Ohio has done that. The problem at this point is not a
curriculum problem, it is a manpower problem. How can we get more people to
view science teaching as both a rewarding career as well as a decent way to
make a living.
The parts that are mostly out of our control would be salaries, facilities,
equipment, and working conditions. As physicists our input here is
primarily through our voting all the way from national level to local school
board... plus whatever influence we can have over our local school board.
It is clear that salaries are too low. It is clear we seldom have the space
and equipment to conduct good hands-on experiments (regardless of whether
you want to call it inquiry-based learning or hands-on learning or simply
lab). It is also clear that teachers can end up working under principals
and superintendents who rose through the ranks more via a desire to earn
more money and micromanage, than because they have talent for the job. If
your salary is low, your space is confined and/or not safe, your equipment
is limited, and on top of all that you have a principal who gives you a hard
time... you have to be really dedicated to stick with it. I know teachers
in just about every combination of these problems, including some with every
one of these problems simultaneously.
The part that is under our control is to make sure that we do not give
students the impression we view teaching as a lesser profession. There is
quite a bit of this taking place. I see it right here at Bluffton College.
One of my calculus-based physics students has declared interest to be a
middle-school science/math teacher. She is the top student in my class.
She got the highest grade on each test, writes wonderful lab reports, and
seems to have the personal characteristics of a good teacher. But goodness,
how many times have I heard a faculty member say, "Why does Karen want to be
a teacher? She could get a Ph.D. and do research. She could go to
med-school and become a doctor. She is so good she could do anything she
wants."
When I hear this I get angry and I literally raise my voice and say, "That's
right. She can do anything she wants, and she wants to be a middle-school
teacher. And what right do you have to question that? What right do you
have to try to determine her life for her? What right do you have to give
her the impression she could or should 'set her sites higher.' Indeed, what
makes you think her sites are not already set higher than yours. In fact,
you're a teacher, why are you putting down your own profession?"
I have had science faculty tell me we had better try to get Karen to become
a straight physics major rather than middle-school teacher because the Math
Department is trying to convince her to become a math major. If we don't
compete with the Math Department we are going to lose her. Geez, has it
come to that? Are we so eager for graduates; are we so eager for graduate
students; are we so eager for student research assistants that we not only
compete with other departments, but we also advise students to change their
career goals to suit our selfish purposes?
I am not going to let high-school teachers off the hook here. This is not
just college professors doing this. When you have good students in your
high-school classes aren't you proud to see them attend a prestigious
colleges and then go to med-school or grad school or something like that?
If you learn that one of your best students is thinking about going into
education aren't you likely to counsel them to set their sites higher? Do
you ever suggest that good students attend a college known for producing
good teachers rather than one known for producing research scientists. I
have to say that I often hear (from high-school teachers) that they have
recommended Bluffton College to a student because this student is not of
high enough caliber to become a research scientist, but he could have a good
career as a science teacher and Bluffton College would be a good place for
him to pursue this.
It will be an uphill battle to overcome the salary, facility,
working-condition problems. But the problem seems almost insurmountable to
me if, in addition to all that, we science teachers actively encourage our
bright students into careers other than teaching. There is no doubt in my
mind that we do this. Sometimes we do it subliminally and sometimes
bluntly. And we do it for selfish reasons. Come on, let's stop doing this.
Michael D. Edmiston, Ph.D. Phone/voice-mail: 419-358-3270
Professor of Chemistry & Physics FAX: 419-358-3323
Chairman, Science Department E-Mail edmiston@bluffton.edu
Bluffton College
280 West College Avenue
Bluffton, OH 45817