TEACHING SCIENCE IN LARGE INNER-CITY HIGH SCHOOLS

Some tentative thoughts by Carl J. Wenning about effective teaching in a large urban setting.

(Last updated December 4, 2004)

 

Inner-city schools are ravaged by a plague of problems: poverty, crime, drugs, gang violence, broken families, child abuse, children having children, joblessness, racism, and the "soft bigotry of low expectations." The list can be substantially lengthened by anyone who has lived or otherwise spent time there. These problems overflow from the community into the school, and make life and teaching in the inner-city school less than ideal.

Over the years I have been in a good number of Illinois high schools, from rural to suburban to inner city. Some high schools in the "great cities" of Illinois are not unlike their more "rural" counterparts found in downstate Illinois. In fact, I've seen high schools in Chicago work very much like high schools in Peoria or Bloomington-Normal - the only major difference being the make-up of the student population.

Are you ready for this? Some comments about teaching science in certain Chicago public high schools. A "must read" for anyone considering teaching in the inner city.

Some questions for thought: Is the system of education currently employed imposing an inappropriate form of education on a community that is based on the needs and expectations of a society that has different values? Are we teaching the wrong sort of things? Are we meeting the needs of the students? Do we need to teach science when survival skills are needed? Are we rearranging the chairs of a sinking ship teaching in a traditional sense? What should a desirable inner-city high school science education look like?

A more desirable inner-city education in science would probably include the following:

If a teacher is going to help students learn science in the inner-city setting, certain things will have to be admitted or strongly emphasized:

  1. Virtually every student can learn.
  2. Hold everyone to high expectations.
  3. The classroom atmosphere should be that of challenge rather than remediation.
  4. Appeal to the individual, but focus on cooperative learning rather than competition.
  5. Self-esteem, self-efficacy, and self-control are central to educational achievement.
  6. Metacognition is critical for student self-regulation.
  7. Learning does not stop at the classroom door; homework counts!
  8. Personal responsibility is an absolute must if a student is to succeed.

So, how does one teach under the more difficult conditions encountered in certain of the Chicago public high schools? The answer is, "The same way as you'd teach science anywhere else." You just have add a bit more. The central message must be this:

If you are to succeed, it will only come at the cost of hard work and self-control.

Don’Äôt be afraid to give a bit of ’Äúparental advice’Äù. See PHY 311 ’ÄúPractical Advice’Äù link.

In order to be successful under more difficult conditions sometimes encountered in Illinois high schools, the following points should be strongly emphasized with students:

High Expectations ~ All students should be held to the same high standards of science performance as elsewhere. To do anything less is to cave in to the "soft bigotry of low expectations." This is unacceptable. Teachers should operate on the basis that virtually every student can learn. Students should be uniformly challenged; while teacher must remediate deficiencies, they should avoid an "atmosphere" of remediation. This can and will turn students off.

Cooperative Learning ~ Cooperative groups, properly used, are a powerful tool for teaching content and social skills. Consider following the lead of "Circles of Learning" by Johnson, Johnson, and Holobeck.

Constructivism ~ Lead students from concrete to abstract using a constructivist approach under which students develop their understanding on the basis of experience. Use Socratic dialoging to the greatest extent possible. This can be problematical, however, if the school is without instructional resources such as lab and demonstration materials.

Six Pillars of Character Counts! ~ Perhaps greater emphasis should be placed on teaching the personal values promoted by the program Character Counts! These can readily be tied into enhanced school attendance and learning. These might be hammered home during the first days of a new semester, and then periodically addressed throughout the semester.


SAAME Principle ~ This principle (Copyright 2004 Carl Wenning) says that success equals innate ability times learned ability times motivation times effort. There is nothing fundamental that a teacher can do about a student's intellectual ability; it’Äôs innate. Nonetheless, providing students with improved learning skills might be a way of effectively increasing ability. Learning how to learn is be just as important as the ability to do so. Motivation has to be internal if the student is going to succeed; it must not be confused with coercion. Students need to be strongly self-motivated in order to expend the effort needed to get ahead. The rewards of the current system are not enough to get students to learn. A high amount of effort can often overcome difficulties that result from other factors.

It should be noted that according to the SAAME Principle, success is a PRODUCT of several terms. If any one term is a "zero" (e.g., essentially no effort), then overall success will be very low even if the other factors are quite high. The student must score "high" on each factor if success is to be significant.


Metacognition ~ The use of student metacognition is paramount to implementing the above S=AAME principle. Students need to know what they know and need to know. Students must understand how to self-assess and self-regulate for success. This requires study skills, standards for successful performance, etc. For ideas about metacognition, see especially the "Metacognition" URL from PHYSICS 311 taught at ISU.


Animal/Human Learning ~ Some of the ideas from psychological research with animals might be successfully applied such as Rescorla-Wanger Model for Learning, Premack’Äôs Principle, and Hernstein’Äôs Rule. This suggestion is not based on the concept of "humans as animals." The recommendation is based on the idea that humans tend to react to punishment and reward the same way other animals do. See especially the ’ÄúAnimal/Human Learning’Äù URL from PHYSICS 311 taught at ISU.

Democratic Ideal ~ Realizing the Democratic Ideal, ISU's conceptual framework for teacher education, is the ethical basis upon which teachers should ground their practice. The intellectual and moral virtues expressed in the Democratic Ideal are most suitable for all teachers working in Illinois classrooms.