IBSE Final

160 NaTIoNal SCIENCE TEaChERS aSSoCIaTIoN

Epilogue Science Teachers as 21st-Century leaders

• improving science teachers’ knowledge and skills, and

• attaining higher levels of achievement for all students.

Achieving Scientific Literacy

The perspective I have placed on scientific literacy gives emphasis to a general

education for all students as future citizens. The perspective differs from the

traditional emphasis on science foundations. Incorporating the emphasis on

scientific literacy as described in this book presents one of the most significant

challenges to science education.

Reforming Science Programs

This perspective incorporates two things: first, the research on student learning

and the implications for science teaching; second, recommendations that curric-

ulum include current and future life situations and work contexts (for example,

career, health, environment, resources, hazards, and research and development

in science and technology).

teaching Science as Inquiry

For too long this perspective has been viewed and presented as an either/or

dichotomy for science teachers. Either you teach science for traditional science

knowledge, or you teach science as inquiry. Again, I make three points. First,

science teachers do not have to take an either/or view; they can take the both/

and perspective. Second, teaching science as inquiry aligns with contemporary

research on teaching and learning. Finally, teaching science as inquiry accom-

modates the contemporary goal of preparing students for life and work. That is,

21st-century workforce objectives can be attained by teaching science as inquiry.

Providing Professional Development

The changes included in the aforementioned discussion imply increasing science

teachers’ knowledge and skills. One should note that this sentence recommends

increasing both knowledge and skills. Professional development often centers

on acquiring knowledge without attention to the skills and strategies of science

teachers’ teaching.

Improving Student Achievement

The introduction addressed this challenge, as did my continued emphasis on the

instructional core. This perspective is, after all, the change that science teachers

strive for, districts want, and the nation needs.