Teaching Science Teachers To Be Leaders

Historically, not all educators, especially those in the elementary grades, have been fully prepared to teach science in the classroom. Many have dealt with several challenges like the lack of access to adequate instructional materials, little knowledge of effective teaching strategies, and the need to work with national and state standards that include far more topics than students can learn over the course of their school experience. As a result, the questions and answers posed in the traditional science classroom are often asked and answered by the teacher.

The North Cascades and Olympics Science Partnership (NCOSP) is seeking to change the above scenario. They have created an academy for science teacher leaders to develop a deep knowledge of science, how children learn, and how to plan effective instruction to support student learning. This training extends beyond one's own classroom as the participants are also coached on how to effectively collaborate with their peers and serve as catalysts for change in science teaching throughout their school and district.

Using How People Learn: Bridging Research and Practice as a guide, NCOSP provides teachers the opportunity to experience these research based learning strategies for themselves. Participants engage in structured scientific investigations in which they are confronted with many questions and, with guidance, must do the hard work of finding the answers. Teachers then are supported to apply these teaching strategies to their own classrooms and are provided access to a mentor teacher and a learning community forum. After participating in the program, they are encouraged to become teacher leaders and mentor and train other educators in their schools and districts. Currently, there are 410 teachers in the program and schools are reporting improvements in science instruction and increased state tests scores.

To read the article Teaching Science Teachers To Be Leaders in full, please go to the following link: http://www.partnership4learning.org/node/779

To learn more about The North Cascades and Olympics Science Partnership, click on the link to their website: http://www.ncosp.wwu.edu/