ENTRY 1: Setting the Stage for Reflection
- Erika Stanischewski
- Sep 27, 2020
- 2 min read
September 1990
Summer vacation behind them, a fresh batch of secondary 4 students enter their science homeroom class. They pick up a type-written notes and lab booklet containing all the theory and labs they will be covering this year. They take their seats, two per table and set their eyes forward where they find their teacher poised, eyes on them, chalk in hand. She reaches up and pulls down the white screen and positions the overhead projector in the aisle fitted with the first transparency for today’s lesson. Students sit in silence, pencil in hand, booklet opened to the first page, and the lesson begins.
Fast-forward to...
September 2020
Summer vacation behind them, a fresh batch of secondary 4 students enter their science homeroom class. They pick up a word-processed notes and lab booklet containing all the theory and labs they will be covering this year. They take their seats, two per table and set their eyes forward where they find their teacher poised, eyes on them, SmartBoard pen in hand (blue, because it is her favorite color). She reaches up and clicks to begin the PPT presentation for today’s lesson. Students sit in silence, pencil in hand, booklet opened to the first page, and the lesson begins.
What is the difference between these two scenarios? Exactly, nothing! Well, let’s be honest, the over-head projector was replaced by a SmartBoard and the booklets look a little fancier because of the great things we can do with Word, but they are still in black and white. What about the contents? What about the meat of the curriculum; what has changed? The answer is, NOTHING ! Students in 2020 are learning relatively the same content in the same way today as students did from thirty years ago. Should this be happening? Is this acceptable? Are the students of 2020 the same as those of 1990? I argue that there may be teaching and learning going on in the scenarios depicted above, but there is no creativity, and innovation is lacking.
I am a science teacher and I began teaching at the secondary level in September 2007. I was handed the material needed to teach my classes and was encouraged to just “follow along”. At first, this seemed acceptable, being the new teacher relatively fresh out of school and certainly not science trained. But, as time went on, and I learned very quickly, I realized that the same approach for every class, for example, did not work. I began experimenting (pun intended) with my own style, activities, techniques, and delivery, and over time I grew more ambitious, confident, and assertive. However, there is still much to learn. Therefore, my goal for this Blog is to explore what a 21st century Science and Technology classroom looks like. I will examine pedagogy, tools, student demographics, what I have realized/contributed, and anything that comes up in-between.
I will end this blog with some food for thought in a quote from John Dewey:
“If we teach today’s students as we taught yesterday’s, we rob them of tomorrow.”
– Source Unknown
Hi Christine!
Thank you so much for your reply. You certainly have me thinking. Here are my thoughts.
The curricular topics have seen minimal change, but there have been additions to the curriculum such as cross-curricular competencies, broad areas of learning, and 21st century skills which means that although the topics are status quo (but should they be? I will explore this in another post), the process in which students learn should be different so that they are also learning the skills necessary to be successful in today's world.
So yes, the way we teach should be different and the way students learn is different regardless if we are teaching different or not. But, my department's reality is not what…
Hi Erica,
I would agree with you that the learning that happened in 1990 and 2020 hasn't changed but the way that we teach and students learn now has changed. I would argue that the method in how we deliver our lessons has certainly changed we don't always have students writing down notes or looking at the whiteboard for instructional lessons. The learning we have in the 21st century is heavily focused on collaboration and innovation. Would you argue that you do many hands-on activities while teaching Science? Do you incorporate the use of technology in your classroom? Great post.
Hi Leah and Rachel,
Thank you for your replies.
Through reading your responses I started to wonder if the content of curriculum has intentionally remained the same over time. I believe that there is a certain amount of "basic knowledge" that students need to know and this seems to be the consensus given the status quo in provincial curriculum content. But, I do recognize that there is a lot more that students need to be exposed to in addition to this basic knowledge. As such, we have our 21st century skills to focus on but we have, as Rachel identified, technology to help us.
I think the real focus is on the process of learning. When we incorporate the skills…
Hi Erika,
I thoroughly enjoyed reading your blog post. You are so right about the curriculum and innovation. I taught Grade 2 Science in Alberta in 2006/2007. When I arrived back in Alberta in 2016/2017 I was surprised to learn that I would in fact still be teaching the same curriculum as I did a decade ago. The Program of Studies was published in 1996. My response to feeling like students need to update their skills was to provide project based learning. I was fortunate enough to work along side our technology teacher and we had the students work together in groups researching projects that interested them. I felt this allowed students to immerse themselves in finding out answers they…
Hi Erika,
I love the way you have compared two classroom Science scenarios that are basically the same yet delivered 30 years apart. There is teaching and learning happening in both but I think that kids are different mainly because of the effect of media and technology in our world today. The way students can access information, relate to it, communicate and learn, should be directly considered in teaching philosophies and the way teachers practice.
I couldn’t help but compare the same scene that played out in my high school science classroom in the 80s! When I first graduated and taught a Grade 9/10 Science class in 98, I was faced with the exact same situation - follow along with…