Speech by John Jackson
Summer Science and Mathematics Institute
Monday, June 11, 2001
Fresno, California

Paths for Future Generations

 

Thank you very much for inviting me here today.  It‘s an absolute pleasure to be back in Fresno.  I, too, have a special fondness in my heart for Fresno and the area because I traveled back and forth to Fresno when I was a
Park Ranger in Yosemite National Park.

First, I would like to begin by congratulating you, the participants in this Summer Institute; you are on the road to success.

Second, I would like to thank Jerry Valadez for the very kind introduction and his intensive efforts to improve the quality of science and mathematics instruction.  He has done a wonderful job and he is a real asset to the Fresno Unified School District.

Third, I would like to thank Jim Marshall.  You have done all the hard work behind the scenes.  You have always had bright ideas and your legacy continues in this Summer Institute, and I am grateful for your efforts.

I have been asked to come here today and talk about “Paths For Future Generations,” I am going to change this a bit to include “Paths For The 21st Century: How Educators Can Help?” 

The talk today is developed around three central points.

First, we need to recognize that the US economic system is dramatically changing and much of this economic change is driven by science and mathematics.

Second, we need to recognize that teachers need professional development and this plays a vital role in improving teacher skills and we need to funnel adequate human and financial resources in this direction.

Finally, we need to recognize that teachers play the most important role in the students’ learning process.

It is clear that we are on the edge of an extraordinary revolution in scientific knowledge.  As most of you know, science and mathematics are the driving forces behind our “new” economic revolution. Our society relies on a knowledge-based community, rather than just the ability to manufacture things. Technological words e.g., Biotechnology, Nanotechnology, and Information technology offers us a promising future. All of these revolutionary words and trends begin with science and mathematics. 

 A couple of words about nanotechnology which refers to the science and technology of building electronic circuits and devices from single atoms and molecules in the 1 to 100-nanometer range. For comparison, a human hair is about 10,000 nanometers thick.  As a result, one can create materials and devices with new or vastly different properties. 

In the past, we built things by what they were made of – wood, steel, aluminum, etc.  Now, we are building things based on what they are composed of – atoms, molecules, etc.

Currently, there are a variety of scientists working in a variety of disciplines and locations trying to understand what are the rules of nanotechnology.  One leader in the field of nanotechnology is here in California.  It is Jim Heath, professor of chemistry and biochemistry at UCLA and science co-director of the California NanoSystem Institute.

Scientists believe (Daily University Science News, http://unisci.com/stories/20001/0124002.htm) the ability to move and combine individual atoms and molecules will revolutionize the production of virtually every human-made object and usher in a new technology revolution at least as significant as the silicon revolution of the later half of the 20th century.

Tom Picraux, Director of Sandia National Laboratory's Physical and Chemical Sciences

Center says, "The possibilities to design materials and devices with extraordinary properties through nanotechnology are limited only by one's imagination.”

For example:

·        Amazingly powerful computers woven into the fabric of clothing

·        Building materials with 10 times the strength of steel at fraction of the weight

·        Microscopic devices traveling through your body to monitor health

It's all possible and closer to reality than you think.

These are not the opportunities of fantasy but they are real ideas that scientists are working on today.  I recently visited the Northeastern University in Boston.  There I personally observed PhD students designing models and experimenting to make nanotubs longer and more efficient.  These new breakthroughs in science and mathematics will lead to enormous opportunities for students with strong science and mathematics background.

In the 21st Century, success in the knowledge-based society will require a variety of critical skills, including active, self-directed learning, the ability to access and analyze remote data, and the ability to communicate across regional and national boundaries.  Employers will demand workers who can learn new skills to adapt to changing job requirements and use new technologies, and work collaboratively in groups.  Most Americans students are not acquiring these types of skills as part of their education today.  Our economic system is changing and much of this change is driven by science and mathematics.

The old teaching methods of the past are in conflict with the new requirements of the future.  Make no mistake about it one thing is certain; the 21st century demands new approaches and new pedagogy.  No longer will memorization, alone, be the driving force for what students need to know.  They must be able to collect and interpret data and make reasonable decisions based on their analysis.  These skills are needed not only for the new economy but also in the student’s daily lives.  Let me sight one example, have you telephoned a big company, later?  Often the company’s electronic telephone answering system forces the caller to make critical choices.  In a recent telephone call to the IRS, based here in Fresno, I had to press 1 for this, press 2 for that, press 3, etc. and after 25 presses and a 25-minute wait; I finally spoke to a live person. I still owe more taxes!!!   How did I know what button to press?  How students are prepared to make choices and taught decision-making skills will invariable affect their ability to survive in the 21st century.

I could sight numerous cases, where one must be adequately prepared with science and mathematics in order to make a critical decision. In the example just given involving the electronic telephone answering system, the use of science processing skills of: observing, inferring, measuring, classifying, and predicting would be very helpful.  In fact, it takes all these science processing skills and more to respond appropriately to electronic telephone answering systems and to press the correct telephone button. 

The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) Standards for School Mathematics also address the importance of decision-making skills of students. (http://nctm.org/standards/standards.htm). To quote, the “NCTM instructional programs from pre-kindergarten through grade 12 should enable all students to--

·        build new mathematical knowledge through problem solving;

·        solve problems that arise in mathematics and in other contexts;

·        apply and adapt a variety of appropriate strategies to solve problems; and

I deeply believe that these science and mathematics skills stand at the intersection of success for students in the 21st century. 

For teachers to assist students, teachers need continuing professional development to complete their understanding of these new technologies and pedagogy.  After all is said and done, it is the teacher’s job to sort out educational complexities, make lessons comprehensible, and make learning meaningful to students.  Yours is a unique and important job.  Today, you begin the process of accepting the challenges of the future by attending this Summer Institute.  I could think of no better way to learn and share your individual expertise.

Let’s start by asking bold new questions.  What can educators do better?  What is really working? How can we teach all students?  How can I make science and mathematics instructions more interesting?  What bold new initiatives can I develop to create partnership with other teachers?   As cutting edge educators one of our primary challenges is to build bridges for success.  Not only for students but also among other professionals.  Educational success is best achieved when all work together for common goals.  In Paul T. Hill’s new book, “It Takes A City: Getting Serious About Urban School Reform,” he describes the politics of reform in urban  school systems and clarifies options available to community leaders seeking to improve school performance  dramatically. The book:

Darling Hammond reported in Teaching for High Standards:  What policy makers need to know and be able to do (1997) discovered that teacher qualifications represent 40% of the students’ test score. Wayne Johnson, President of the California Teachers Association, recently stated, “The single most important factor in improving student achievement is having a qualified teacher in the classroom.”   The Glenn Commission Report, Before It’s Too Late (2000) stated that specific teaching skills can only be acquired through training, mentoring, and collaboration with peers, and practice… high quality teaching requires that teachers have a deep knowledge of subject matter.  For this there is no substitute.  Despite the dramatic changes in our society, teaching methods in science and mathematics have remained virtually unchanged.

As I stated earlier, ‘yours is a unique and important job.’  You are all professionals. You’re role models for your students and other teachers. And for our country, you occupy a special position; you are “leaders in science.”  Albert Einstein said, “Imagination is more important than knowledge.” Take this wisdom and build a new visionary future for you and your students to learn science and mathematics. Teach yourself to dream. What you think is impossible that’s where you begin to dream.  Then, teach your students to dream.  Teach them to dream of success to dream big dreams and to always seek success. Let them know that from time to time you may have failed but in science and mathematics new discoveries often come from failure.

Tell them stories of successful scientists and mathematicians that struggled yet worked for success and their dreams.  Tell them that dreams are more powerful than hope that hope is more powerful than negativity and that dreams are building blocks of confidence and confidence builds success.  Tell them that life is made of parts that must be joined together like an Erector Set that the whole is greater than the parts. Tell them that the best lesson in science and mathematics is to ask questions.  Encourage them to ask high level questions that will eventually only create another question.  Let me sight one example how important questions are to the educational process.  Most educators think that students will ask questions about subject that they don’t understand.  This is far from the true.  Greasser and Person’s (1994) states that availabe studies reveal that student asks One question per hour in a classroom and that the poverty of classroom questions is a general phenomenon across cultures.  The fact that it takes about 9 hours for a typical student to ask one question in a classroom is anti-science and anti-mathematics.  Teach your students to aks questions. 

Teach them that life is not a solution but a mystery.  A mystery that must be approached with questions and the sooner your students learn these strategies the more confidence they build the more likely that they will succeed in the 21st century.  With this new confidence, one could say that your students could become  “the little engine that could.” Simply, encourage your students to dream! 

As we lay a foundation for a meaningful teaching philosophy, I am reminded of the National Student Research Center’s teaching philosophy which states “… [teaching philosophy] is one of educating the mind, touching the heart, and creating an intelligent and caring future.”  We must start today to form a meaningful teaching philosophy, because teachers are the play the most important role in the students’ learning process.

So let me end today with the following challenge. Albert Einstein stated, “Science should always be fun.” You are in a strategic position to make science and mathematics fun and meaningful for your students. I hope that you accept this challenges. And fill your students with a “fire for learning” that will prepare them for a science and mathematics role in the future.

If educators could simply model, what scientists and mathematicians do, and teach students to ask questions and build confidence, you could increase productivity of students by orders of magnitude.  Always remember, teachers play the most significant role in the student’s learning.

I look forward to the question and answer period, and any comments you may have at that time.

Thank you.

 

Reference

 

Before It’s Too Late. (2000). Glenn Commission Report. Washington, D.C.:  U.S. Department of Education, National Commission on Mathematics and Science.
www.ed.gov/americacounts/glenn

 California Teachers Association. (2001).  What High-Stakes Testing Can’t Fix.

 Darling Hammond, L. (1992). Teaching for High Standards:  What policymakers need to know and be able to do. National Education Goals Panel.
www.negp.gov/Reports/highstds.htm

             Daily University News (2000). National Labs Now Jumping Into Realm Of The Tiny on the web. http://unisci.com/stories/20001/0124002.htm

 Graesser, A. C., & Person, N. K.  (1994).  Question asking during tutoring.  American Educational Research Journal, 31, 104-137.

 Hill, P.T, Campbell, C. & Harvey, J. (2000). It Takes a City:  Getting Serious About Urban School Reform: Brookings Institute Press. 2001

 National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. (2000). Overview of Principles and Standards for School Mathematics Standards for School Mathematics Overview of Principles and Standards for School on the web http://nctm.org/standards/standards.htm

 Teaching Philosophy. (2000) National Student Research Center on the web http://youth.net/nsrc/nsrc.html#anchor851864.