In the almost 15 years since I've graduated from high school I've
notice the major changes in how children are educated. I feel like I'm
not old enough to be say when I was a kid things were different, but I'm
saying that on a regular basis. When I was a child, parents and
educators seemed to work together more to provide a quality education
for children. There were learning experiences both at home and in
school. I have memories of conducting science experiments both at home
and in school as early as elementary school. However, I am realizing
that kids today don't have the same opportunity that I did during my
K-12 education.
All
students don't have an equal opportunity to have a great science
educational experience. I have been spending time in schools and am
realizing that kids aren't engaged in enough hands on science or science
that is relevant to them that make them interested in science. I was
having a conversation with a 5th grader and he was talking about what he
learned in science class that day. What they learned bored me to death,
they were talking about a scientist that is dead and technology that is
obsolete. I know that science history is an important part of science,
but kids should be learning something that is relevant and current and
about scientists that are alive today. But thing that I was grateful was
that at least this student was learning science. I'm always curious how
the state science and mathematics standards are chosen. Is the
curriculum team made up of a diversity of math and science educators and
professionals? Do they select the material based that provide the
students with a strong foundation as well as engage them in the
subjects? Do they select a curriculum that all school districts will be
able to implement, including those districts and schools with limited
resources? Do they consider if the curriculum is academically preparing
them for post secondary education and pursuing careers in these
subjects? I believe that a strong curriculum should include all these
elements to ensure the academic success of our children in math and
science.
In addition, most state curriculum the core subjects are
language arts, math, social studies and science. However the priority of
instructional time in our schools, especially in elementary school
isn't always focused on equal preparation in all subject areas. There
are studies that show that elementary students don't always get an
adequate amount of science as a part of their curriculum. There are
various reasons for this; the main reason is that not enough resources
are put into science education because science is rarely on the
standardized test that has become a critical part of education. Another
reason is not all elementary teachers feel comfortable enough to teach
their students science. With elementary school being the foundation for
learning in all subject areas, if there is no strong foundation for
science how will kids excel when they go to middle and high school. This
doesn't create an environment for our kids to excel in science, let
alone pursue careers in these fields.
In order for us to provide
the best educational experience for our youth, we must hold the
educational system accountable for ensuring that all subject areas have
equal instructional time. We shouldn't give more subject areas more
instructional time simply because our students will be tested in those
subjects. The best way we can hold them in accountable is to build a
relationship with the educational system at all levels; the individual
schools, school district and state department of education. We want to
make sure that our children are academically prepared to enter the
future workforce, which will be an educated workforce.
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