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Roettger's Astronomer's Education Notebook
An online notebook for astronomers and space scientists wanting to become involved in science education.

Reaching Teachers (lessons learned)

These are my notes (somewhat augmented) from a talk I gave in the education session at the Minneapolis AAS meeting (30 May 1994).

Index:
Communication
Training, etc.
Resources
Working in a school environment
Acknowledgements

One Step and Ordinary: Reaching the Average Teachers
Elizabeth Roettger, The Adler Planetarium (Chicago)

I focus on elementary school teachers, because these are the grades where students statistically lose interest in science or lose confidence in their ability to do science. Teachers of these grades often have less formal science training than high school teachers.

I assume that we want all students to have access to science. For this to happen, all elementary school teachers need to feel comfortable teaching science. That means we need to reach all teachers, not just the ones who build their own computers from spare parts. This is what I mean by the "average" teachers: the phys. ed. and music teachers who are now being asked to teach science. The ones who lost interest and confidence in science 'round about 4th or 5th grade.

We must adapt to them, not ask them to adapt to us.

Communication
(REACHING the average teachers)

The exceptional science teachers often invest their own time, and will often find us, but how can we reach the average teacher? What means of communication work best for them?

• they may have a typewriter, phone, and fax, but it's most likely in the main office (under the nose of the principal and administrative staff).
• most have no internet access at school (this is changing, but even those with internet access may not have the time or training to use it).
• most have no journals - no time or money for them.
• most have *good* access to a copy machine (although it may be an old one).
• many can talk to other teachers within their school but not in other schools, which may mean they rarely talk to other science teachers or other teachers of the same grade.
• for most, conferences are rare and special events.

The lessons I've learned from this are:

• Resources must be available in ONE STEP.
  • one phone attempt. (If a teacher gets a busy signal or has to call first for information and then to make a reservation or such, they may not manage that second call - remember they usually don't have their own phone during the day.)
  • one letter. ( That means the original flyer or information packages should come complete with ordering/reservation info, including prices.)
  • one visit. (That means the original flyer needs to have information on how to get there, when it's open, how to prepare, what to bring, what resources are available - resource samples are a good idea. Most teachers don't have time for an exploratory visit - they need to know that a place has something they want. Alternatively, work the exploratory visit into a teachers' workshop.)
• Be persistent, contacting teachers is hard:
  • be prepared to use home phone numbers; it's the only place many teachers can be reached dependably. I know many scientists avoid making professional contacts using a home phone, but we have to use the teachers' best modes of communication.
  • personal contact is important. It's hard to establish, but once established, they'll keep coming back to you. You, personally, not your institution.
  • some schools censor bulk mailings. Don't assume it got to teachers just because you sent it to them, or to their principal, or to their science coordinator. Sending it to the school library can work in some systems. If you do send items directly to teachers, time it to arrive after the first week of classes, or it might get lost in the summer's accumulation.
  • school politics can be amazingly complex. Be prepared to work with realities that are not logical. Politics may be why so many teachers rely on personal contact.
• Their main resource is other teachers
  • this serves as a review and filtering system for lesson plans, activities, places to visit, and other ideas. Also, if a teacher learns about something from another teacher, they have a place to go if they have questions. Plan resources that can make use of this system.
  • photocopyable items make it further. Color lithos and posters are great, but the biggest impact (number of students reached) seems to come from what teachers copy for each other. If you really want them to photocopy it, print it single-sided and put it in a looseleaf binder - remember many have old copy machines.
  • include source information and the date (year) in handouts. Some teachers will get an 8th generation photocopy and want to know where to get a fresh one. Others will get "new" information and not know when it was last updated.
  • any package you make will be dissected and repackaged with other stuff. This means that you can't depend on a teacher down the line getting the whole package. I don't know what the best response to this is.
• Teachers are good resources for us, too!
  • they have *stockpiles* of educational units.
  • they know their students and how to reach them.
  • they know how to put something in a form other teachers will use.
  • they know the local requirements and curriculum.
  • they know the local system; who to appease and who to ignore and what to document and what to do quietly.
  • they know the local informal network, whatever form it takes.
  • they are frequently imaginative and enthusiastic, and can be wonderfully inspiring to work with.

Training, etc.
(Reaching the AVERAGE teacher)

Teachers acquire typical forms of behavior and ways of looking at things which are quite different than what scientists acquire. For one thing, they typically applaud after an introduction rather than waiting for the end of a talk.

• Phys. Ed, music, language teachers are now being asked to teach science, too.
• Teachers tend to focus on people, not on text -- and they may not take notes
• their knowledge of science content may be very limited because their degree program focussed on teaching skills and requirements
• they may feel science alienation
• they need short startup times (due to rapid rearrangements of their days - unannounced assemblies, fire drills, unexpected changes)
  • can't spend time reading pages of unbroken text
  • don't have long lead times to collect materials or plan
  • don't have firm schedules

Therefore:

• we must appeal to a variety of backgrounds and interests
• use *their* communication styles (art, music, the human body)
• talk to them, not your slides -- and use handouts
• give content at teacher's level (not yours, not students') -- empower, don't dazzle.
• you can, however, ask them to respond as a student would -- this can save them from having to announce that they don't know something
• use highlighted text -- illustrations, easy-to-follow labels, or anything that makes it easier to skim or find something
• provide friendly, complete resources -- they'll go farther if they look like a teacher created them.
• give them practice time in workshops or a resource center -- don't just show them, let them try it out

Resources
(One step and ORDINARY)

How do teachers get science materials and equipment for their classes?

• teachers's budgets average $0.50-$2.00 per student per year for science materials and equipment -- this must often cover photocopying, too
• teachers frequently use their own funds to supply their classroom
• they can be amazingly creative scroungers
• sometimes a PTA or other source can help fund material purchases

Tools

• they usually don't have a drill or soldering iron
• Radio Shack = Terra Incognita -- many teachers are uncomfortable with electronics or shop tools, or don't have ready access to them.

Response:

• use cheap or free resources
• have alternatives so they can use what they scrounge rather than trying to obtain something specific. Specify the necessary qualities, though, to help them figure out substitutions.
• use familiar, ordinary resources
  • grocery store items
  • k-mart or equivalent
  • kitchen equipment, hammers, screwdrivers.
  • working with ordinary objects is better for the students, too -- it helps convince them that science is part of everyday life, not something that only works in laboratories with special equipment.
• if you are supplying them with resources or equipment, ask:
  • can it be used more than once?
  • can it be renewed or resupplied without you?
  • can it be repaired by the teacher?
  • can it be shared with other teachers without special training?

Working in a school environment
There are a few other things that don't fit above. When you're working with a school, be aware that:

• schedules change with little or no notice
• weekends can be good or bad for getting teachers to participate
• summer time is valuable -- many teachers rely on summer earnings
• an untrained principal , looking at a room of hands-on activity, may see chaos rather than active learning -- and may reprimand the teacher for failing to keep order
• elementary teachers have maybe an hour per week for your science subject -- don't expect them to do a whole curriculum on it.
• students often have other primary languages
• mainstreaming students means there may be dramatically varying abilities within a classroom -- but they're still fundamentally kid-like

So:

• open hours are important, should you want teachers to visit you
• make a one-shot, impromptu visit to your organization count!
• use in-service time for teacher workshops. You may need to supply a stipend or money for a substitute teacher.
• summer time is money; expect to pay stipends.
• include the principals from the start -- get them behind your project, and train them along with the teachers if humanly possible.
• provide a menu of interactive tie-ins from which the teacher can construct an integrated curriculum
  • let teachers choose among alternatives
  • suggest a coherent set for teachers with less experience
• English reading level is not equal to maturity -- be prepared to have activities that can be used with a variety of language skill levels
• appeal to a variety of kids, especially to a variety of senses -- this can also appeal to a variety of teachers!
• use teacher partnerships and continuing relationships with a school -- give and take, don't just give and leave. Prepare to adapt. I think it's better to stick with one teacher or school to make a real change, rather than trying to reach as many as possible.

Acknowledgements
I learned lessons from four major sources:

1. Work done under a (NASA Astrophysics) IDEA grant. We wanted to produce a resource notebook that would be as useful as possible to teachers. To do so, we interviewed and traded resources with about a dozen teachers in Maryland, as well as the friendly folks at Goddard Space Flight Center's Teaching Resource Center.
2. Endless pestering of my educationally-oriented colleagues, in an attempt to learn what resources and experience existed, and thus avoid reinventing the wheel.
3. A training session for astronomers interested in education, at the Berkeley AAS meeting (1993, I believe).
4. Participation in the Astronomical Society of the Pacific's Project ASTRO, where I was paired with a wonderful teacher and we were trained in astronomy, hands-on science teaching, and how to make a partnership work.

Go (back) to the Astronomer's Education Notebook or Elizabeth Roettger's Homepage.

Created 14 March 1995, last revised 15 June 1997

URL: http://www.nthelp.com/eer/AENreach_teach.html