Fulfilling the Promise Biology Education in the Nation's Schools (1990) / Chapter Skim
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6. Recruiting Scientists, Teachers, Technicians, and Physicians
6. Recruiting Scientists, Teachers, Technicians, and Physicians
Pages 72-80
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From page 72... ...
We are convinced that instruction in biology that plants the seeds of discovery, awakens students to the beauty of the world around them, and instills some understanding of fundamental biological concepts will serve the interests of most students. Many students who now enter college expressing an interest in science nevertheless look back on their high-school science experiences as obstacles they have surmounted, rather than as gardens they have entered.
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From page 73... ...
(2) In each field of science, different universities compete to attract outstanding graduate students from a limited pool of college graduates.
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From page 74... ...
The various competitive forces described above encourage faculty members to concentrate their efforts on their own laboratories and on graduate and undergraduate teaching programs that cater to the students wishing to specialize in their discipline. Most successful faculty members in science departments are already overcommitted from their efforts in research and "professional" teaching (the teaching of graduate students and undergraduate majors)
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From page 75... ...
· Universities should develop programs that integrate all interested local precollege science teachers into the various science communities of the university. Possibilities include partnership programs between the precollege teacher and faculty, postdoctoral researchers, technicians, and graduate students; periodic laboratory tours for teachers and their students; availability of surplus equipment and supplies to the teachers; science contests for students; and summer research opportunities for both teachers and outstanding students.
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From page 76... ...
It continues in college, where biology faculty discourage undergraduates indirectly by failing to present information about teaching options and directly by opining that precollege teaching is not a worthy choice of career for able students. Recommendation A particularly promising mechanism for addressing teacher recruitment is a national fellowship program in which selected prospective teachers are paid for their schooling.
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From page 77... ...
-Fellowships need not be exclusively for future high-school science teachers; they could be used to attract future science specialists for elementary schools and middle schools, thereby boosting the prestige of that calling, as well as increasing the numbers of such teachers. -Similar fellowships could be offered to established teachers.
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From page 78... ...
2) has concluded: The essential problem lies not with the academic potential of black children but with unproductive institutional arrangements, lowered expectations, and narrow pedagogical processes that characterize the American educational system.
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From page 79... ...
Similarly, whereas 94% of teachers in grades K-3 and 76% in grades 4-6 are women (grades for which little or no specific science training is required) , only 41% of science teachers in grades 7-9 and 31% in grades 10-12 are women (Weiss, 19871.
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From page 80... ...
· Those who develop preservice and inservice science and scienceeducation courses need to be aware of research that demonstrates how prospective and practicing teachers can develop and implement specific teaching behaviors and instructional strategies that lead to more equitable science classrooms. · Greater attention should be paid by colleges and universities to recruiting women and minority-group members to careers in science and science teaching.
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