Introduction
What we have learned
Where are we headed?
Developing Leadership
Conclusion
J. Myron Atkin
Rodger W. Bybee
(George DeBoer)
Peter Dow
Marye Anne Fox
John Goodlad
Jeremy Kilpatrick
Glenda T. Lappan
Thomas T. Liao
F. James Rutherford
Introduction
What we have learned
Where are we headed?
Developing Leadership
Conclusion
J. Myron Atkin
Rodger W. Bybee
(George DeBoer)
Peter Dow
Marye Anne Fox
John Goodlad
Jeremy Kilpatrick
Glenda T. Lappan
Thomas T. Liao
F. James Rutherford
|  | What we have learned and where we are headed: Lessons from the
Sputnik Era (continued)
George E. DeBoer, Colgate University
Developing and Sustaining Leadership in Science,
Mathematics and Technology Education
How can we build leadership to accomplish an agenda like this?
There is a tendency when speaking of leadership in education to
interpret it as the ability to implement reform, to educate teachers and
administrators concerning some new program and the program's
philosophy so that it can be effectively delivered to students. Staff
development, organizational development, involvement of parents
and other community members, and the reform of teacher
preparation programs are cited as the tasks of educational leaders.
Although these are important skills for leaders in education to
possess, I believe there are additional qualities that should
characterize educational leaders as well.
1. Leaders in science, mathematics, and technology education
should be broadly and liberally educated.
Whether the field is law, politics, economics,
business, medicine, education, or science,
leaders in our society are broadly and liberally
educated. They are cultured individuals in the
best sense of that word because they understand
and can communicate to others the place of their
work in relation to the things the society feels are
important. They understand the cultural norms of
the society and the larger intellectual and social
context of the field they represent.
To achieve this position, leaders in science,
mathematics, and technology education must
have the opportunity to develop multiple
perspectives on their fields. Their own education
should give them historical perspective,
interdisciplinary perspective, and multicultural
perspective. These multiple perspectives will help
to make their insights more creative and
wide-ranging, less technical and narrow. They
should feel comfortable with the basic content
and fundamental issues of each science field, with
the important science-related questions that
society is facing, and with the way that science,
mathematics, and technology have affected our
physical and intellectual experience with the
world. They should be familiar with principles of
democratic freedom and with broad
philosophical and ethical issues that affect us all.
They should be knowledgeable about the
historical development of their fields so that they
can make use of the lessons learned from the
past. And they should be familiar with the
psychology of learning and development.
2. Leaders in science, mathematics, and technology education
should be critical and skeptical in their own work and model
these attitudes for others.
Unfortunately, there seems to be a tendency in
education for individuals to become too quickly
enamored of new ideas and to accept them
uncritically and without adequate scrutiny. Those
who oppose the new ideas are dismissed as out
of touch. "Inquiry teaching," "active learning,"
"constructivism," "mastery of the disciplines," and
"SST" are just a few recent orthodoxies. It is
extremely important that education for leadership
have a critical dimension to it so that ideas and
claims are examined carefully and adopted
cautiously. It is important for leaders to follow
the scientific way of thinking themselves,
especially to reserve judgment so they can lead
with intelligence. Educational leaders need the
kind of education that encourages critical and
thoughtful reflection on the most important
questions facing us. Educational leaders should
be taught to have the courage to oppose ideas
that do not ring true to them and the conviction
to suggest alternatives. There have always been
individuals who are willing to take unpopular
views of things so that critical debate is kept
open, and it is essential that this attitude continue.
3. Leaders in science, mathematics, and technology education
should think of education as a life long pursuit, both for
themselves and those they are trying to lead.
Perhaps there is nothing more important than that
education be viewed as a life long process.
There is too much to learn in the short time that
we are actually enrolled in school to view it
otherwise. To even attempt to do so is to treat
knowledge as a finished product, something that
can be consumed within a discrete period of
time. The only way educational leaders can
develop the broad ranging educational
background that produces enlightened vision and
creative insight is to retain a continuous interest in
learning themselves. Educational leaders should
encourage the idea that formal education is one
part of an ongoing process that encompasses
one's entire lifetime. They should take this
attitude toward their own educational
development as they model their love of learning
to others.
Conclusion
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