I’m writing this letter in an effort to affect change and
hopefully have some kind of impact on the profession of teaching secondary
science in Alberta. I have been fortunate to teach in Alberta for twenty five
years and every year is rewarding. The
students I teach are fantastic human beings; more considerate with their
surroundings, more caring towards their peers, more committed to diversity and
inclusion. These young people are driven
to become the best our planet has ever produced and will no doubt leave a
legacy we can all be proud of.
However, these students are being taught and challenged in
an educational system that doesn’t often promote the type of thinking necessary
to reach the goals they have ahead of them. Our system seems to intentionally
or unintentionally promote the stand and deliver mode of teaching. As we all
know, good educators are constructivists and actively include students to
develop understanding through conversation, experimentation, modeling, peer
teaching, etc. However, no matter how we
promote this philosophy through curricular change and university classes in pedagogy,
new teachers are entering this profession with limited skills or lack of
appropriate mentorship.
As science consultant for Edmonton Public Schools, I had the
rare opportunity to visit many secondary science classrooms. At first I was excited to watch the
innovative teaching practice in science classrooms. But I was disillusioned to
find that the majority of classrooms were very quiet, students were taking
notes, watching a PowerPoint presentation, with little obvious engagement. As I
headed back to the classroom after four years as a consultant, I was eager to
start with student teachers. My first
student teacher in five years provided me with a cover letter embracing the
concept of constructivism. Imagine my
excitement. Unfortunately, this student
teacher clearly did not understand its nature or importance. Upon
clarification, this student decided that true constructivism was too difficult
and had no background information to draw from to create lessons. I was able to model constructivism and gave
the student teacher opportunities to demonstrate understanding and appreciate
the impact it has on students.
My question for the University of Alberta and the Province
of Alberta is how can we provide
students the best and most effective learning environment where students
collaborate, question, examine, experiment and challenge current thoughts and
theories if the most prevalent teaching method is to stand and deliver with a
focus on achievement and high stakes exams? I understand the Alberta Government
is re-inventing the curricula for all subjects, however, no matter what changes
appear on paper, the pedagogy stops with the mentor teacher. How
can the University of Alberta’s Faculty of Education and the Government of
Alberta work together to create a system to develop mentor teachers capable of producing
student teachers that can inspire science creativity and wonder in future
Albertans?
Thank you for reading my letter. I would be happy to help with the process.
