Dive Brief:
- Author Alison Gopnik writes in her latest book, “The Gardener And The Carpenter: What the New Science of Child Development Tells Us About the Relationship Between Parents and Children,” that children used to master important skills formally or informally by mimicking adults, but middle and high schools stick to explaining skills to students.
- In an excerpt for Mind/Shift, Gopnik says poor inner-city children are more likely to focus on sports and music than math or science, and she believes it is because extracurriculars are taught through apprenticeship — a better model.
- Gopnik questions how many students actually practice science or math, see expert scientists or mathematicians at work, or have teachers who are as skilled in their content area as coaches are in their sports, which she indicates contributes to poor student outcomes.
Dive Insight:
The Next Generation Science Standards and a focus on hands-on STEM instruction seem to be causing something of a shift in schools when it comes to pedagogy. Teachers are now focusing on having students think and act like scientists and engineers. In the states that have adopted NGSS, students learn the scientific method and then spend a lot of time figuring things out about the world using it.
Many schools also forge partnerships with local industry professionals to give students opportunities to see working scientists and engineers, gain mentorship benefits and simply see potential future career possibilities. Administrators are seeing these partnerships as increasingly important to prepare students for college and career.
