This week in Science designs for learning we read chapter 2 of 'Rethinking the Way We Teach Science' by Louis Rosenblatt.  This was an interesting choice for me because I have a note I made in my phone that says "Rethink the Way We Teach Science", and initially I thought it was the result of some deep epiphany I had had, but now I realize that it was probably just that someone had recommended me this excellent book!

For me, the chapter was all about placing students at the centre of what is occurring in the classroom.  Instead of delivering material and 'giving out' answers, Rosenblatt aptly suggests that the focus of the science classroom should shift to have students build arguments and explore ideas that they can connect with.  The examples of the condensation on the outside of a glass, or the phenomena related to the sun and moon were practical demonstrations of how one can inspire students to question the world around them in an interactive and explanatory way.  I can certainly see this type of approach working with a large portion of students, and also with many adults. I doubt many could explain the process of condensation, and there may be some who are even unaware of the water in the air around us.  It illustrates that this type of 'interactive learning' based on 'questioning over answers' could work at any age level!

The second part of the chapter takes a bit of a different turn, and looks at the same issue through the lens of history and the traditional philosophy of science.  By discussing the work of Cuvier and Darwin, Rosenblatt attempts to drive home the point that we often struggle as scientists and teachers to move beyond the traditional boundaries of our discipline and focus on the question itself as opposed to the existing 'facts'.   Personally, I thought this tied in well with our discussion of the new curriculum that followed, something I think can be argued to be more problem-solving focused and less answer/content heavy.  It is exciting that we are slowly moving towards a school system where 'making sense of things' lies at the heart of the curriculum- a truly important part of becoming 'educated'.  Especially in an age where so much information is available with the click of a button, it has never been more important to teach the skills required to outline a problem and develop strategies to solve it.  I feel as a student teacher it can be difficult not to get overwhelmed by the dominant way of doing things in your particular school, but this chapter has helped to remind me of my original intentions for entering the field of education in the first place.  For me the next challenge will be coming up with appropriate assessment strategies to evaluate students on their inquiry progress.  It may be difficult to break away from the paradigm of 'right answers for assessment', but the value of this approach seems too great to me to allow such hurdles to prevent change.  I can see value in Rosenblatt's philosophy not only in the science classroom, but across all teaching disciplines, and it think this might be one of the books that will become an indispensable part of my teacher library.