Editorial Cite This: J. Chem. Educ. 2019, 96, 1291−1293
pubs.acs.org/jchemeduc
Refuting Myths about Secondary Chemistry Teaching: Getting the Facts Out to Current and Future Educators Terri M. Chambers,*,† Etta C. Gravely,‡ William Hunter,§ Jennifer B. Nielson,∥ and Ellen J. Yezierski⊥ †
Education Division, American Chemical Society, Washington, D.C. 20036, United States Department of Chemistry, North Carolina A&T State University, Greensboro, North Carolina 27411, United States § Department of Chemistry, Illinois State University, Normal, Illinois 61790, United States ∥ Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah 84642, United States ⊥ Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Miami University, Oxford, Ohio 45056, United States
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ABSTRACT: Misperceptions about careers in STEM secondary school teaching keep interested students from pursuing teaching and explain why some chemistry educators may not recommend that their most successful students explore a career in teaching. The United States has a shortage of STEM teachers in middle and high school; highlighting the facts about STEM teaching can help to address this predicament. Get the Facts Out is an NSF-funded project designed to give chemistry and other STEM educators the tools to explain and correct misperceptions with data on salary, benefits, and career satisfaction of STEM secondary school teachers. Chemistry educators at all levels can access the Get the Facts Out toolkit, which includes resources to share with students, colleagues, and administrators, and can become change agents in this crucial conversation. KEYWORDS: General Public, Public Understanding/Outreach, Misconceptions/Discrepant Events, Student/Career Counseling, Professional Development
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high school teaching within their department,1 and only 25% agreed with the statement that “middle or high school teaching is discussed as a career option in my major department.”1 Despite the existence of misperceptions of teaching as a career, interest in secondary STEM teaching is not uncommon. In a recent study, nearly half of chemistry undergraduates reported some level of interest in being a middle or high school teacher, ranging from slightly interested to very interested.1 Further, there is a considerable national need for more secondary math and science teachers.2−4 Shortages in middle and high school science and mathematics teachers are reported across the United States, with secondary chemistry, mathematics, and physics teachers in particularly high demand.3,4 As influential advisors,5 we are well-positioned to provide students with facts that facilitate an informed exploration of careers in secondary STEM teaching. In doing so, our community can make significant contributions to the critical work of secondary STEM teacher recruitment and preparation and inspire the next generation of educational leaders in chemistry. Changing the narrative around teaching science as a career is essential to ending the shortage of qualified chemistry teachers in U.S. secondary schools.
hen a student comes to us to discuss the prospect of becoming a secondary chemistry teacher, what comes to mind? What advice do we give them? • Do we encourage our most successful and promising chemistry students to enter the field of high school chemistry teaching? • Do we suggest that teaching pays a lot less than other jobs one can get with the same degree? • Do we talk about high school chemistry teaching as an opportunity to share students’ passion for the central science? • Do we propagate the myths that teachers can never retire, that teachers are unhappy, or that teachers are not respected by the public? As we reflect on the counsel we offer our students, we should consider two critical questions: Are we well-versed in the realities of high school chemistry teaching? Are some of our beliefs actually myths?
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PUBLIC PERCEPTIONS OF CAREERS IN STEM SECONDARY SCHOOL TEACHING The U.S. public has strong perceptions about teaching as a career. Some of these perceptions are not based on fact and are actually misperceptions, or myths, about the profession. As chemistry educators, we are part of the public. Thus, some of our perceptions about teaching as a profession could be inaccurate and negatively influence how we advise our students regarding their choice to explore teaching as a career. In a recent survey, approximately 30% of chemistry undergraduates reported a negative perception of the choice to pursue careers in middle or © 2019 American Chemical Society and Division of Chemical Education, Inc.
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CHALLENGING THE MYTHS WITH FACTS AND EVIDENCE Get the Facts Out6 is an NSF-funded project designed to base the conversation around STEM teacher recruitment on current STEM teaching realities through the development and implementation of a national information campaign. Central Published: July 9, 2019 1291
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campaign. We invite you to attend the Get the Facts Out symposium at the Fall 2019 ACS National Meeting in San Diego. Whether you can attend or not, consider joining us as change agents committed to catalyzing a shift in the conversation around secondary STEM teaching. Visit the Get the Facts Out project Web site6 to learn more.
to the campaign are data challenging some of the commonly held myths encountered in discussions of teaching as a career. For example, one typically espoused misperception is that secondary STEM teachers are unsatisfied in their careers. However, a recent study indicates that STEM teachers are nearly six times as satisfied with their ability to make a difference in others’ lives compared with other recent graduates.1 Other myths highlighted by the campaign address issues such as teacher retirement and salary. Admittedly, even as early supporters of this project, we were struck by how our own strongly held misperceptions were influencing our view of the secondary teaching profession. The data provided by the Get the Facts Out campaign helps to address those beliefs not supported by the realities of the teaching profession. The campaign features a toolkit7 of editable, research-based, and user-tested resources that investigate prevalent myths and provide accurate information about secondary STEM teaching via brochures, flyers, posters, validated assessments, studentfacing presentations, and faculty-facing presentations. Users are encouraged to modify the toolkit resources with branding and information consistent with their institutions. The project’s activities also include documentation of the effectiveness and impact of the campaign through qualitative and quantitative research. The Get the Facts Out project team includes leadership from the American Chemical Society, Colorado School of Mines, the American Physical Society, the American Association of Physics Teachers, and the Mathematical Association of America. The disciplinary societies are leveraging their partnerships with departments and collaborating with national change agents to disseminate project resources in ways that are sustainable and responsive to the contexts unique to each discipline. Goals of Get the Facts Out include the following: • Changing perceptions about the teaching profession held by faculty, teachers, students, and parents • Increasing the frequency of faculty using Get the Facts Out toolkit resources • Increasing the numbers of mathematics, chemistry, and physics majors who enroll in certification programs
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AUTHOR INFORMATION
Corresponding Author
*E-mail:
[email protected]. ORCID
Terri M. Chambers: 0000-0002-5920-6826 Ellen J. Yezierski: 0000-0002-7067-7944 Notes
Views expressed in this editorial are those of the author and not necessarily the views of the ACS. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation. Biographies Terri Chambers is a co-PI on the Get the Facts Out project and the Director of Learning and Career Development at the American Chemical Society. Etta C. Gravely, a Fellow of the American Chemical Society an Associate Professor of Chemistry and Coordinator of the Chemistry Education Program at North Carolina Agricultural and Technological State University in Greensboro, NC, is also a Change Agent on the Get the Facts Out project. Currently, she is Chairperson of the Education Committee of the Central North Carolina Section of ACS and a member of the ACS-Hach Advisory Board. Her research focuses on combining educational technologies for student engagement in the chemistry classroom and studying the persistency of women in the field of chemistry in North Carolina. William Hunter is a Change Agent on the Get the Facts Out project and Professor of Chemistry and Teaching and Learning and former Director of the Center for Mathematics, Science and Technology at Illinois State University. He currently holds a variety of roles as PI, coPI, and evaluator on several Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship programs and teaches courses to hundreds of chemistry teachers across the country each year.
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SUPPORTING STUDENTS IN PURSUING SECONDARY SCHOOL STEM TEACHING Equipped with facts that align with the current realities of secondary STEM teaching, what can we, in our roles as chemistry educators, do to support our students who want to become high school teachers? In some cases, it may be helpful for us to examine our own biases. Are we still hesitant to recommend a teaching career for our most successful students? Whether formally designated or not, we are all preservice chemistry teacher educators who can support and encourage students who want to teach. Further engagement with this national effort can occur in many ways. At our institutions, we can talk about secondary STEM teaching as a potential career path during student career nights and use the Get the Facts Out toolkit7 to give presentations to students, educators, advisors, and administration members. We can provide accurate information on secondary STEM teaching to our peers, when we hear misinformed beliefs. Often, students are unaware of scholarships and financial aid available for prospective STEM teachers; we can point students to this critical information. We also need widespread participation from the community in the national
Jennifer B. Nielson is a Change Agent on the Get the Facts Out project and the Associate Dean of the College of Physical and Mathematical Sciences at Brigham Young University. She is a Teaching Professor of Chemistry and Chair of the ACS Society Committee on Education. Ellen J. Yezierski is a Change Agent on the Get the Facts Out project and Professor of Chemistry and the Director of the Center for Teaching Excellence at Miami University. Her research aims to improve conceptual understanding of chemistry with a focus on the dynamics of teaching chemistry and teacher change. A Fellow of the American Chemical Society, she also currently serves as the Chair of the Journal of Chemical Education Board of Publication for the ACS Division of Chemical Education and is a member of the ACS Society Committee on Education and the ACS-Hach Advisory Board.
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Get the Facts Out is an NSF-funded partnership between the Colorado School of Mines and the American Physical Society, American Association of Physics Teachers, American Chemical 1292
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Society, and the Mathematical Association of America (NSF DUE-1821710 and 1821462).
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REFERENCES
(1) Marder, M.; Brown, R. C.; Plisch, M. Recruiting Teachers in HighNeeds STEM Fields: A Survey of Current Majors and Recent STEM Graduates, A Report for the American Physical Society Panel on Public Affairs; American Physical Society: College Park, MD, 2017. https:// www.aps.org/policy/reports/popa-reports/upload/ POPASTEMReport.pdf (accessed Jun 18, 2019). (2) President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology. Prepare and Inspire: K−12 Education in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) for America’s Future; Office of Science and Technology: Washington, DC, 2010. https://nsf.gov/attachments/ 117803/public/2a--Prepare_and_Inspire--PCAST.pdf (accessed Jun 18, 2019). (3) American Association for Employment in Education. 2014 Educator Supply & Demand; American Association for Employment in Education: Slippery Rock, PA, 2014. https://www.aaee.org/resources/ Documents/AAEE%20Supply%20_ %20Demand%20Report%202017%20Ex%20Summary_fnl.pdf (accessed Jun 18, 2019). (4) Cross, F. Teacher Shortage Areas Nationwide Listing 1990−1991 through 2017−2018; U.S. Department of Education: Washington, DC, 2017. https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ope/pol/ ateachershortageareasreport2017-18.pdf (accessed Jun 18, 2019). (5) Gallup, Inc. and Strada Education Network. Major Influence: Where Students Get Valued Advice on What to Study in College; September 2017. https://www.insidehighered.com/sites/default/ server_files/files/Gallup-Strada_Education_Network-MajorInfluence%20EMBARGOED.PDF (accessed Jun 18, 2019). (6) Get the Facts Out project Web site. https://getthefactsout.org (accessed Jun 18, 2019). (7) Get the Facts Out toolkit. https://getthefactsout.org/recruitingresources (accessed Jun 18, 2019).
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