Helping Children Learn Science

Late in his career, Professor Jack Easley, a renowned science educator, was invited to deliver a lecture to a distinguished group of scientists and teachers in Washington, DC. He was asked to speak for one hour on the topic, How Should We Teach Science. Although Jack had rich and varied experiences with schools in many countries, and had written extensively on science teaching and learning, the task of prescribing how anyone should teach science posed a special challenge for him.

Jack knew many things about children and teachers, about good science activities, and about science itself. But one of the most important things he had learned was that it was not possible to say in one hour how to teach. Jack saw each child as unique, and even each question one might ask. One child's "Why does the sun set?" might call for an entirely different response than another's. The balance of hands-on investigations, dialogue, problem-solving, reading, writing, and simply pondering, could never be specified in advance. Even more importantly, the very idea that anyone could have a one-size-fits-all method was one of the major impediments to learning.

Rather than having a handy recipe for teaching effectively, Jack argued that teaching itself should be viewed as form of inquiry. The best science teachers did not necessarily know the most science or the cleverest teaching methods. Instead, they were open to learning themselves. They sought to know more about each science topic, and about their students. That spirit of inquiry thus becomes an example for students about science itself, showing them that learning demands curiosity and openness, a willingness to make mistakes, and a recognition that no answer is final.[1]

Nevertheless, anyone who tries to teach feels compelled to ask, "How do I start?" We need some ideas about what matters most. This document is a tiny beginning--less than Jack's one hour's worth of thoughts. In no way can it substitute for the kinds of understanding that grow out of continued commitment to learning through teaching. My hope is that it may be of some use, if only to stimulate some question asking and inquiry of your own.

Notes:

[1] Saying that no answer is final is not the same as saying that all answers are equivalent. Students can learn that some answers account better for observations, that they lead to better predictions, or that they are more congruent with other theories. It does say that scientific statements are always subject to examination on the basis of new evidence and that answers are not the end to inquiry, but the basis for asking new questions.

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Feb. 23,1997

Chip Bruce Email: chip@uiuc.edu