Page 110 - Cultural Studies of Science Education

7 Engaging the Environment 87

Authors such as Robert Yager and Pinchas Tamir (1993) are early advocates of
teaching science using these issues of local importance. The use of issues, specifi-
cally, designed for understanding the connections between Science, Technology,
and Society (STS) in science teaching corresponds with Roth’s writings. Teaching
science in a manner that connects more fully with the larger community or environment
creates an immediate and meaningful “need-to-know” for developing science
competencies (a reason beyond testing students). The advantage is greater buy-in
from students where students do science instead of having it done for them
(National Research Council [NRC] 1996).
Roth’s own personal story, his journey of becoming a science teacher, is one of
“hope” for science education. As is often suggested, the teacher is perhaps the most
critical agent for meaningful science learning. Roth describes how much he wanted
to make a difference for his students. The creative and resourceful science teacher
is one who uses limited available materials (wherever they find themselves) and
expands these details to enrich the experience of their students. It may also be that
Roth implicitly makes a connection between teaching science in the remote village,
this village’s innate connection to the land in meaningful ways, and the division of
labor within certain jobs. The idea is that “knowledgeable participation” is meaningful
for the participant. This idea suggests for “formal” education, a way to prepare
students for their future world which will undoubtedly have dangers (e.g., global
climate damage and environmental disasters) seen in recent times. A “local matters”
manner of teaching science creates a greater understanding of community and
nature. Correspondingly, it is a needed challenge to equate understanding local matters
with keeping residence in one local area, while at the same time, recognizing the
incredible pull of economic opportunities within urban areas.
Kurt: Working with students in a rural setting can sometimes mean working with
students who have an elevated sense of local agency. This is not to say that students
in suburban and urban environments do not also have a strong sense of local agency.
The social systems of government and industry are evident and numerous in urban
settings – quite intimidating – and give a perception of one’s diminished ability to
act locally. A rural setting can be perceived as more accessible because of generally
perceived smaller populations, more locally operated businesses and community
events. As a child taught in a rural setting in Connecticut, I also remember observing
that rural students who are inclined to think about local issues seem to feel like they
have more significant levels of access to government officials and business leaders.
Roth demonstrates this idea. He shows how it plays out with students communicat-
ing their findings to local policymakers and community members. With that stated,
I am not presuming to describe some sort of spectrum of agency that correlates with
where one lives. These experiences might be superficial trends that a teacher
observes when working in a rural setting or someone with limited experiences in a
more urban setting. Strong, moderate, and weak feelings of agency can certainly
exist in any setting, which creates the need to dissolve notions of agency as it is
associated with place. In other words, this dis(placed) idea means that teachers need
to understand the levels of agency present in order to be able to help students engage
and connect with the community and community learning experiences.