Commentary pubs.acs.org/jchemeduc
Welcome Home Deanna M. Cullen* Science Department, Whitehall High School, Whitehall, Michigan 49461, United States ABSTRACT: The ACS Board has recently committed resources to a national organization for high school chemistry teachers that may finally provide a long-awaited professional home for that community. This organization will facilitate collaboration between teachers and also with college professors and chemists working in the field. The success of this initiative will depend upon the support of current ACS members at every level of the organization. KEYWORDS: General Public, High School/Introductory Chemistry
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High School Chemistry Committee (HSCC) began considering the idea of a national organization for chemistry teachers. Having felt isolated and intimidated, I applauded the effort and inwardly promised myself that I would do what I could to help ACS finally create a home for every chemistry teacher. Fifty years after the 1928 questions posed previously, W. T. Lippincott declared in an editorial:2 After years of indecision, equivocation, and downright arrogance, all arms of the American Chemical Society now appear intent upon creating the conditions and establishing the atmosphere that will enable high school chemistry teachers to feel they are part of the family of professional chemists. He goes on to mention the establishment of the Office of High School Chemical Education, the creation of High School Chemistry Committee (HSCC) within the Division of Chemical Education and “increasing the number and usefulness of journal articles and other teaching and resource materials of particular interest to high school chemistry teachers”2 by creating modular curricular materials and with JCE seeking funding to appoint a high school editor and to double the size of its secondary school chemistry section without decreasing the space or commitment to college level activities. Lippincott suggests that before these initiatives, ACS “never offered high school teachers a professional home in which they can identify with other chemists; nor has it provided them continuing opportunity for interaction with their peers in chemical education.”2 Sylvia Ware, the first manager of the Office of High School Chemistry, emphasized in the June 1979 issue of JCE:3 The Society recognizes that for most students their first (and for many their last) exposure to chemistry occurs in the high school. Hence, the role of the high school chemistry teacher is pivotal to directing interested students toward a career in chemistry and related disciplines. For the student who never again takes a chemistry course, the role of the high school chemistry teacher is critical to the development of a scientifically literate citizen. She continues with a statement that, sadly, I feel is all too true even today:3
ccasionally when I use the search tool on the JCE Web site to research a specific topic, an article appears on the list that dates back to the very earliest years of the publication. If I can spare the time, I enjoy browsing them to see what the authors had to say on the topic I am considering. I specifically find the articles relating to high school chemistry teachers and their relationship with the larger chemistry community interesting. This is how I happened upon the May 1928 article quoted here.1 It seems to us that there are many high school teachers who should belong to the American Chemical Society. What is the reason these teachers do not belong? ... In as much as a majority of people get the only chemistry training they receive from high school teachers, the American Chemical Society should be concerned with both the kind of teaching and the teaching personnel in the high school. Yet the society does not draw these teachers to its meetings. Should there be some investigation made as to what needs to be done to encourage high school teachers to join the society and attend meetings? When I graduated from Ferris State University in Big Rapids, MI in 1988, I was looking forward to a career teaching biology. I did teach some biology classes, but I ended up working in a chemistry laboratory as a technician for two years and I have primarily taught chemistry during my teaching career. As many science teachers employed in small districts experience, I was expected to teach a variety of science courses and I have. On top of the necessity to prepare for several laboratory courses, I was the only one in my science department teaching chemistry until recently. I often felt isolated and overwhelmed. When attending professional development, it became clear to me that many chemistry teachers frowned upon those of us that were teaching chemistry with only a minor in the topic. I was intimidated. Early on, I had taken on the role as “the chemistry teacher” in my school district. I wanted to do my best and become actively involved in the chemistry teacher community, but it took me many years to overcome the intimidation I felt. Collaboration with supportive college level chemistry instructors finally gave me confidence to become more actively involved in the broader community. Shame on those that initiated my feelings of intimidation. Shame on me for not being more confident in my ability. Kudos to those who finally convinced me that I was valued. Because of their support, I became more involved in the larger community just as the ACS © 2013 American Chemical Society and Division of Chemical Education, Inc.
Published: December 23, 2013 6
dx.doi.org/10.1021/ed400743f | J. Chem. Educ. 2014, 91, 6−7
Journal of Chemical Education
Commentary
Unfortunately, the high school chemistry teacher has often felt undervalued and isolated from chemists in industry and academics, though the efforts of the three groups are interdependent and should be interrelated. One of the primary goals of the new Office is to encourage high school chemistry teachers to identify more strongly with the chemical profession as a whole and to improve the channels of communication between the high school teacher, the college professor, and the industrialist. As Lippincott mentioned, the initiatives begun in 1978 were imperative to creating a professional home for high school chemistry teachers. Undoubtedly, the Office of High School Chemistry has contributed valuable resources and helped draw more chemistry teachers to ACS. All of these efforts have been vital to creating a strong foundation, but there is still work to be done. It is time to make this unfinished house into a home. I was fortunate to be present at High School Day at the ACS conference in Indianapolis on September 8, 2013 to hear George Bodner announce that funding had been approved by the ACS Board of Directors and ACS is moving forward with forming a national organization for high school chemistry teachers.4 My skin had goose bumps as I listened to one of the most influential men in the chemical education community make this historic pronouncement. I could sense his dedication and passion for creating a powerful vehicle to transform chemistry education and bringing unity to all members of the field. Bodner spoke about how for many years ACS “has done things to teachers: it is time to do something with teachers” and commit more resources to them. He went on to describe the founding of the new organization as a “catalyst” for great things to happen. Most notably, he pointed out that of the 40 000 chemistry teachers in the country, only 1100 of them are currently ACS members. He stressed that we need each of those 1100 members to reach out and encourage the rest of the community to join and collaborate with this new organization. This brings me back to the 1928 question, “what is the reason these teachers don’t belong?”1 The HSCC seems to have considered this since they have already committed to including high school teachers in the planning and offering significantly lower membership fees. Hopefully, this historic initiative will finally address all of the reasons and be successful in overcoming them. I am grateful to Joseph Lagowski for sharing his rendering of the remarkable history of the development of the field of chemistry that led to the creation of the ACS and eventually, the Journal of Chemical Education.5 Looking back, there have been many efforts to include and support high school chemistry teachers. Most recently, the precollege division of JCE has been working to encourage and facilitate more sharing and collaboration among high school teachers within the Journal and at the companion Web site Chemical Education Xchange.6 I fully support the even wider scale effort of the ACS to create a national organization that embodies many of the same goals. The ACS has the resources and ability to facilitate sustainable collaborations between teachers, professors, and chemists that will lead to a whole new generation of high school chemistry curriculum materials along with creating other opportunities for teachers and students that were not possible on a large scale without their support. In September of 1979, the HSCC published “A Progress Report” in JCE in which James V. DeRose made several statements referring to the creation and initiatives of HSCC.7
Those statements mirror some of Bodner’s assertions about the proposed high school organization. The success of HSCC’s effort will depend on extensive, thoughtful, and dedicated participation of high school teachers throughout the U.S. working both at the local and national levels. Realistically, for major changes to occur most of the action will have to be initiated and promoted by teachers and others at the local level. The HSCC was created to establish “the high school teacher as a vital, responsible and contributing participant in the chemical education community”.7 A national organization for high school teachers can be the realization of this goal, but it is up to the teachers to make it happen. “This goal will be achieved when local leadershigh school chemistry teachers working with chemists and college chemistry teacherstake the initiative to do so.”7 Joseph Lagowski’s history lesson5 makes it clear that we have reached this milestone in our history because of the vision and dedication of many before us. It is our generation’s responsibility to take on that torch. To that end, I will do my best to support the effort of the HSCC to develop a national organization and create a powerful community of teachers. I will also continue to advocate for those science teachers who end up teaching chemistry even though it was not initially their goal, but because it is the reality of small town districts. I am confident that colleagues at the high school level, at the college level, and those in industry will embrace their own responsibility to support the growth of the national organization and accept and welcome ALL chemistry teachers to our collective “professional home”.
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AUTHOR INFORMATION
Corresponding Author
*E-mail:
[email protected]. Notes
The authors declare no competing financial interest.
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REFERENCES
(1) High-School Teachers and Chemical Society. J. Chem. Educ. 1928, 5 (11), 1532. (2) Lippincott, W. T. For High School Chemical Education: A New Agenda. J. Chem. Educ. 1978, 55 (10), 615. (3) Ware, S. The Office of High School Chemistry. J. Chem. Educ. 1979, 56 (6), 401. (4) Bodner, G. Creation of an American Association of Chemistry Teachers. J. Chem. Educ. DOI: 10.1021/ed4007887. (5) Lagowski, J. J. From the Beginning: The Journal of Chemical Education and Secondary School Chemistry. J. Chem. Educ. DOI: 10.1021/ed300820v. (6) More information can be found at the Chemical Education Xchange Web site at http://www.chemedx.org/ (accessed Dec 2013). (7) DeRose, J. V. The High School Chemistry Committee: A Progress Report. J. Chem. Educ. 1979, 56 (9), 612−613.
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