Information and procedures for describing outstanding professional science educators
How can I develop as a professional science teacher?
The answer isn't simple and before getting to an answer there are going to be several questions and answers. So if you are ready for the final answer, scroll down.
First, answer this question - Could you use a bit of confidence that you can become an outstanding professional science educator?
If the answer is no, skip this survey.. If you are not sure or can't ingnore your curiosity try the survey.
If the ratings of the second survey were higher than the first, it is very likely that you could better your science attitude and confident to do science just by reading the next question and paragraph.
I should think of science as observation?
By all means. Yes, and if doing so provided you with a flicker of a thought that if you did you might be able to be an outstanding science educator, then you are ready to begin.
Isn't it more complicated than that?
Depends on what your looking at. But it is the only place to start. So build your confidence so that you can build your science literacy, and you will see that there is nothing needed for science literacy that can't be built from observations. This is most critical for students, because they are motivated to understand by what they see or have seen, their ways of understanding begin with their personal observations, mathematico-logico development at the primary and intermediate level is based on observations, and visual spatial abilities is based on observation. I imagine by now you have discovered that science was substituted with "observation" or "learning from observation" or something similar in the second part of the survey. AND for a starting point it is as simple as that. SO if the score on either part or both parts of the survey was in the agreement categores, then you should be ready to continue your professional development as a science educator.
So, science, at its naked beginnings, is observation, thinking and reasoning about observations, and using them to determine future observations. Anyone reading this, has been doing that successfully for many years and has the ability to succeed in becoming an outstanding science educator.
Science is NOT the information needed to build a rocket, or the results from decoding the human genome, or an explanation of nuclear physics and black holes. Science was and still is being used to create understanding in these and other areas, but everything that you know about the world and can use to explain what will or may happen before it happens you learned by doing science. The way that you grew to understanding repeatable events is the same science used by scientists in all sciences at the most advanced levels and in the most advanced topics. Too often people think science is complicated and of used only to understanding advanced science topics or that one has to be able to understand science topics at an advanced degree to be able to do and use science. However, they are mistakenly confusing science (viewing and doing) with the ability to understand secondary reports of somebody elses observations and explanations. When this information is presented in text, it is reading comprehension and when it is presented orally it is listening skills. Both, valuable tools for learning secondary science information, but not for doing science and learning from that activity.
Where do I start?
To continue your professional development two basic things will be used: 1. a procedure for professional development and 2. a description of the knowledge, skills and attitudes that professional science educators exhibit.
What procedure?
A procedure to inquire and reflect on what outstanding science teachers know and do to facilitate student learning, and the attitudes that are helpful to achieve success. The procedure is to reflect on your present understandings and practices, describe what they are and the rationale for the selection of each practice, and its consequences for students. This information can be compared to what other professional science educators have done and the differences and similarities can be used for personal reflection to decide a course of action. The process --->>> chart.
Where do I start?
One way to start is to generate questions about what science educators should know, be able to do, and what attitudes will increase their likelihood of success. the following questions you might recognize from the chart linked above:
Possible Focus Questions
What is science?
What is science literacy?
How is science literacy assessed?
How do children, adolescents, and adults learn science and become science literate?
How is science literacy facilitated?
How do science teachers improve professionally?What do I know or can find out about what outstanding teachers know or do for each of the following?
How do outstanding teachers define science --->>> What is science (mini-lecture)
How do outstanding teachers describe science literacy --->>> Professsional organizations links.
How do outstanding teachers organizing science content dimensions and outcomes to facilitate literacy. --->>> Chart with all content categories for different organizations.
What do outstanding teachers know about how children, adolescents, and adults become science literate and what can prevent that from happening and how do they use that knowledge?
How do outstanding teachers facilitate science literacy?
How do outstanding teachers sequence and assess science understandings?
How do outstanding teachers continue to develop professionally?Then organize this information onto a web, chart, notebook... --->>> sample.
Okay, where do I find information to put on the chart?
You can put information that you already know and believe is important for facilitating science learning and you could find some sources with good information that interests you. As you review different sources, jot down ideas on your web and before you know it you will need a very large sheet of paper. --->>> sample with some inforrmation.
If you need a larger sheet of paper, you could move some of the groups to another sheet and use arrows to show there is more. Or if you are going electronic you can link pages. For example. If the topic facilitating science literacy becomes too big, put it on a separate page. --->>> sample. Of course this sample is mostly generic and doesn't contain a lot of specific information for science.
Okay, the information that you have collected can be used for a science education position paper and should have a strong influence on the creation of a portfolio?
Robert Sweetland's Notes ©