Educating Teachers of Science, Mathematics, and Technology New Practices for the New Millennium (2001) / Chapter Skim
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Introduction and Context
Introduction and Context
Pages 15-29
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From page 15... ...
How much training and experience would travelers want the truck driver or pilot to have had? These kinds of questions were raised recently in an article comparing methods used around the world for the training of commercial airline pilots for United States and foreign carriers (Mangan, 20001.
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The key difference between the current and previous calls for reform in teacher preparation is a focus on strategies that coordinate the preparation of high quality teachers with improvements in K-12 student achievement. Rodriguez, 1998 assessments compare(1 with the academic performance of students in many other countries.
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Me National Science Education Standards addressed not only content but also critical related issues, such as the professionalism of teachers, Me roles of colleges and universities in preparing teachers to implement and teach curricula that are consistent with the content standards, appropriate assessment of knowledge, and the educational infrastructure Mat would be needed to support these new approaches to teaching and learning.2 The development of these national standards reflected the concern that U.S. students needed to become much more knowIedgeable about science and mathematics than they had been in the past.
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. Concomitant with the reform of content in K-12 science anti mathematics anti knowle(lge about how people learn, there have been calls for restructuring teacher preparation and professional development.
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cited 12 partner states that have begun far-reaching sets of reforms that could affect virtually all aspects of teaching. In North Carolina, for example, the state's Excellent Schools Act of 1997 enacted "nearly all of the recommendations of the National Commission that were not already in place in the state," including increasing teachers' average salaries by 33 percent over four years; improving teacher education by establishing school-university partnerships to create clinical school settings and requiring special education training for I INTRODUCTION AN D CONTEXT all newly prepared teachers; enhancing mentoring of beginning teachers by setting standards for the selection of mentor teachers and providing funds to professionally prepare and compensate mentors; and the funding of professional development tied to state content standards for students.
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Similarly, few courses address the application of this knowledge to societal issues or other matters dimensions that the Standards say need significant attention in K-12 education in science. National Research Council, 1 997b In the past decade, the criticism of teacher preparation programs also has extended to content preparation.
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In this approach which remains depressingly common today teachers provide their students with sets of science facts and with technical words to describe those facts. In the worst case, this type of science teaching assumes that education consists of filling a student's head with vocabulary words and associations, such as mitochondria being "the powerhouses of the cell, " DNA being the "genetic material, " and motion producing "kinetic energy.
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He recommended strengthening the connections between reform efforts taking place in schools of education (teacher preparation) and those in K-12 education (e.g., implementation of content standards)
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Sadly, the belief that anyone can teach also seems to be reflected in some traditional teacher preparation programs. This notion or belief that everyone can teach can lead to overly simplistic approaches to teaching and teacher education.
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The approaches to teacher preparation described above and the patterns of inservice programs met the needs of a largely agrarian society and also worked later when schools were expected to prepare "citizen-students" to function as workers in an increasingly industrialized society. But current learning goals include expectations for much higher levels of knowledge and understanding about science (AAAS, 1993; NRC, 1996a)
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· Experience knowing how to frame questions, choose activities to address misunderstandings they know students have, and assess student learning appropriately. According to the new Principles and Standards for School Mathematics, effective mathematics teachers use strategies and approaches that range from extended student explorations in small groups to direct teaching.
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In increasing numbers of states, calls for higher student understanding of and achievement in science and mathematics has been EDUCATING TEACHERS OF coupled with high-stakes stan(lar(lize(1 tests, placing even greater pressure for effective teaching performance on teachers. These changing expectations are making clear that teaching no longer can be seen as an activity that SCIENCE MATHEMATICS AND TECHNOLOGY ,
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It synthesizes and buil(ls on the research literature and current calls for reform of K-16 science and mathematics education as well as on more general principles of effective teacher education that are derived from analysis of actual cIassroom practice. Research about what is 5As noted throughout this report, this study undertaken by the members of the Committee on Science and Mathematics Teacher Preparation has led to the conclusion that teacher preparation (which often is equated with the education of prospective teachers, or preservice education)
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From page 28... ...
; · The current status of education for teachers of science, mathematics, and technology, including stresses on current systems of teacher education and the teaching profession that are exacerbated by the urgent need in many localities for many new "qualified" teachers, especially in science, mathematics, and technology (Chapter 21; · The critical importance of wellprepared teachers for improving student learning and achievement (Chapter 31; · Descriptions of how teacher preparation might be redesigned in light of research, new knowledge about how teachers learn the content anti art of their profession, an(l, base(1 on recommendations from higher education organizations and the (lisciplines themselves, how expectaEDUCATING TEACHERS OF SCIENCE, tions for the professional quality of teachers and teaching, especially for science and mathematics, are likely to change in the near future (Chapter 41; · Descriptions of and vignettes from exemplary and promising current practices for improving teacher education in science, mathematics, and technology, including the establishment of close local or regional partnerships between school (listricts and teacher educators, scientists, and mathematicians in institutions of higher education (Chapter 51; · The stu(ly committee's vision for improving teacher education in these (lisciplines (Chapter 61; · Specific recommendations for implementing the committee's vision for the improvement of education for K-12 teachers of science, mathematics, anti technology (Chapter 71; anti · Information about national stan(lar(ls for K-12 science anti mathematics for teacher (levelopment, course anti curriculum content, and teaching practices (Appen(lixes A-C) ; statewi(le programs that offer ongoing professional (levelopment for both novice and experienced teachers of K-12 science anti mathematics Appendix D)
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From page 29... ...
The CSMTP's vision for improved teacher education (Chapter 6) and general as well as specific recommendations (Chapter 7)
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