opportunitief in continuing education
edited by:
RAYMONOD. BANGS Roseile Park High School Roselle Park. W 07204
The North American-New Zealand Connection A Teacher Exchange Raymond D. Bangs Roselle Park High School, Roselle Park, NJ 07204
The Connection This month we present an interesting form of continuing education-a teacher-exchange program. In 1981, Alan H. Wooff of New Zealand and Jim Gardner of New Jersey exchanged houses, cars, and jobs (with the cooperation of their respective employers). This exchange was the result of achance meeting between Jim Gardner and Terry Hitchings a t the 5th International Conference on Chemical Education in Dublin, Ireland, in August 1979. Hitchings, the Principal of Riccarton High School in Christchurch, New Zealand, put the two men in touch after hearing that each wanted a year's teaching experience overseas. Each paid his own expenses, and the exchange operated from January 1981 to January 1982. Alan H. Wooff's Perceptions Wooff has been a lifelong resident of Christchurch, New Zeaiand. He has been teaching chemistry for over 25 years and is currently the Head of the Science Department a t Christchurch Boys' High School. The following are his impressions of teaching in an American public school system. Rosed on y o u reochinp experience in Americo, would )ou cummen1 on some o l l h e more ohr.roue rimilorifies and dillrreneer brtween your school and ours?
In terms of the teaching of science, the two systems are very different. Our schools are nearly all five-year institutions, and we do not use the "layer" system of one-year courses that you do. During the first three years in our schools, pupils take a course called "Science," consisting of roughly equal amounts of biology, chemistry, and physics. Those who then elect to continue in chemistry (or in any of the separate sciences) do so in the form of two successive one-year courses, each of which terminates in anational examination. In the second of these years, the more able students achieve standards which appear to be similar to those of your Advanced Placement classes. The introductory course "Science" is spread over three years and contains a significant amount of chemistry. This course ought to provide a sound basis for senior work, but unfortunately it is failing to do so. This is largely because the chemistry component is far too theoretical and therefore too difficult for all hut a select few. Another reason is that many of the teachers are not trained as chemists and often find they cannot successfully handle chemistry a t this technical level. The most able pupils survive this, hut the rest are greatly disadvantaged by it. Most are, in fact, "turned off' to chem-
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Journal of Chemical Education
istry. Typically, it is only those who think they will need chemistry as part of some further course of study who take it a t the senior level. In one respect our systems are very similar, and that is in the content of the courses themselves. There are, however, some differences in the emphasis. We tend not to spend as much time on thermodynamics as you do in the United States and to spend more time than you do on organic chemistry. Of the two systems, w h ~ do h you now think of as the better approach?
I don't think it is a matter of better or worse, hut of what one is used to.In any case, 25 years of one system and just one of the other is scarcely the stuff of which well-founded comparisons are made. One thing that has worried me about the system in the U.S. is the awarding of grades, which I never did manage to come to terms with. Grades seem to muddle what the pupil has achieved with the teacher's opinion of that achievement. Both are important, but I am more comfortable if they are separated. T o what extent would you say that Chem Study and American thinking on chemical education hove influenced the teaching of the subject in your high schools?
Chem Study appeared a t the time when we were in the process of revising syllabi that had not heen changed since they were introduced in the 'forties. There were those who argued that we should adopt Chem Study as we had adopted PSSC physics some years earlier. Although admittedly we were greatly influenced by Chem Study, as one who opposed the "adoption," I was glad we went ahead and wrote our own material. That influence is still with us, and although some of us have been uneasy about our high school chemistry for some years now, i t is only recently that there has been a general agreement on the need for change.
This leabre swvesasa saurceaf educational appartunitiesfachemisby teachers. It includes uptadate information on forlfxoming workshops, seminars, and short courses. Readers also are provided the opportunity to relate their personal experiences with these education programs. In addition, readers are invited to share their deams and suggested designs for possible workshops. in this way it is hoped that potential sponsors Will have a better idea of the needs and desires of their potential participants.
Why were you opposed to the adoption of ChemStudy,and why this movement a m y from it?
I helieve that it is unlikely that something designed for one set of circumstances can he applied to another without suhstantial modification. I prefer that we d o our own thinking. As to the second part of that question, there are two points I would like to make as I try to answer. The first is that it really isn't fair to talk about this solely in terms of Chem Study which offered us a new, exciting view of what high school chemistrv mieht he. I t was revolutionarv. and we welcomed it. What b e siould he talking about is h k h school chemistry as it is todav. some 15 vearsafter Chem Studv. Not onlv have these yearsb;een ones which a great deal ha; changedin our societv and in our schools-thev have also been a time in whichwe have learned a lot more'about our craft. For myself, I would say that at some stage heginning with the revisions of the 'sixties we seem to have lost sight of the fact that there is a difference between our suhject and its teaching. Just hecause, for example, atomic orbitals are central to chemistry as i t is understood and practiced today, I do not believe it follows that they must he accorded similar status in heginning courses. Moreover, in order to accommodate all the theory that we have taken into our courses, we have literally had to squeeze out the experimental, factual basis of our suhject. This has been done to the extent that chemical hehavior has hecome an appendage to theory and treated as something that can he derived from it. I do not for one moment sueeest that this was intended, hut I do think that it comes close to descrihine what has happened. Let me put it another way. Theorher day, someonesaid to me that Americansocietv has aholished childhood. Whether this is literally true or not; I would not venture to say; however, it is in a way what you in your country and we in ours have done to high school chemistry-we have abolished it. In its place, we have college chemistry. In the lahoratorv, we no ionger introduce ou;pupils to the way in which substances hehave, hut instead suhiect them prematurely to a set of exerrises in physical rhemktry. I helieve we must now discipline ourselves to try todo simple things well and so rive our rubiect a beginning that our can cope with. It ismy experience that confidence, understanding, and liking are closely related; in fact, they depend upon one another. Frightening someone is not really all that clever and should not be confused with what is so often called "maintainine standards." How often is an adult's sole recollection of high school chemistry how "hard" it was? You spoke earlier of the desire for change in New Zealand. ffCZ"e you found a similar feeling here among our high school chemistry teachers?
Not to any significant extent. There are signs from other quarters (the McMaster Conference is one) that some teachers are not happv with what is being done a t present; however, I certainly didn't iind much erldence of desire for change among the American trarhrrs I tal ked with. I don't sense that anything dramatic is about to happen to high school chemistry in the United States.
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You mentioned w m e prornivinc rwisions rhor are under way in .Vvu Zealand Cnn )uu fell us ~ o m ~ t h i n about g huu they ore being done and whr, has initialed them!
It was the teachers themselves who initiated these reviiions. T o understand u,hut is -wine on, vou must first realile that our
country is small. There are ;;st over three million New Zealanders-about the ooaulation of Chicaeo and this has certain advantages. I t is,fo; example, possihlefor any teacher who is interested in curriculummdtters to know personally those in the Department of Education and in the universities who, through the examination prescriptions and the examinations themselves, control what is taught in our schools. Because the chemistry we teach affects the schools' entrance
standards, i t is proper that the universities have a say in what
..goes on a t the senior level.
To my mind, the most important contrihution of the universities u, high school chemistry is something quite different. It is their definition of the current state of chemistry, its aersaectives. and the dirertions it is takine. Our contrihution i n the othe; hand is to say (in terms of tLe intellectual maturitv of our o u ~ i l and s of the facilities and the time available to ui) what & can and cannot teach. Given this, the two parties working as eauals should he able to find wavs in which high schools cin ahsbrh the new without falling into the trap of thinking that we must teach all of it. That is what we did last time around. Some material from our current revisions is now startinn to appear, and I like what I've seen so far. Eventually, draft; will he cirrulated to schools so that teachers may have the chance to comment on them before anything is finalized. Not everyone will a p e completely with what is decided upon, hut there should he a reasonable concensus. What is auailable to New Zealand chemistry teachers in the form of continuinp education?
There are a number of organizations involved in continuing education. Each of the main centers has its own Science Teachers' Association. However, for teachers of senior chemistry. the most important organization is the New Zealand ~nstituteof ~ h e m f s t r~his&sociation ~. for many years now has actively sought the membership of chemistry teachers, and in 1974 set up within itself a Chemical Education Group. In addition to this, individual universities hold courses for chemistrv teachers from time to time. as does the Department of Education. However, like many worthwhile thines. - . these activities are now increasinelv -.threatened hv rising costs. I would like to mention something that we teachers could do for ourselves concerning practical work. Beginning teachers have so much to learn, i t is understandable that in order to survive, they start depending heavily upon textbooks and lahoratorv manuals. This becomes a habit that persists lone after the heed has passed. The result is that alitoo they settle into a lifelong pattern of talking about chemistry, hut never doing it. Certainly they perform demonstrations, hut these often seem to he more for entertainment than for chemistry-a sort of "bring on the dancing girls." A small amount of this may have its place as a means of getting attention, but unless i t is handled skillfully, its value must be doubted. This is not what I mean by doing chemistry. Teachers should, as a matter of principle, routinely make and analyze compounds, try experiments that others publish, and even make their o w n solutions-anything to keep them handling the substances they talk about. Out of this should come new ideas for practical work for their pupils to carry out, a respect for technique, and through having to accept their own vields and analvses. a measure of humilitv. Over the vears. I haie tried to do this $art of thing. I t is thk only w a i 1 can think of by which we can avoid the straitjacket that the lahoratory manual can eventually become. Jlm Gardner's Perceptions Gardner has been involved in a wide variety of experiences that have enriched his teaching of high school chemistry over the past 31 years. Prior to spending the calendar year of 1981 in New Zealand, he spent a year (1962) in England teaching chemistry a t a rrirls'mammar school. and durine the academic year of 1969 spent his iahhatiral leave at Tern& Cniversity. He also attended various Nationill Scienre Foundation (NSFI . . institutes and worked over several summers in research and development in industry. After each of these exaeriences. Gardner returned to thedassroom invigorated an2 more en: thusiastic about his chemistry teaching. Volume 62
Number 1 January 1985
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Wouldjou comment on some ufrhe nwre ob~iouraimi1ar;tresnnd d i l f ~ r m e e abetuesn the e d u r o t ~ m a le y r t e m in Neu Zeoland and America?
The New Zealand svstem is modeled after the British svstem. I t involves national examinations and is structured to include several levels (called forms) which are similar to our grades. Students in the lower forms are not offered the oneyear courses so common in the United States. A year of science is divided into thirds with the focus on biology, chemistry, and nhvsics. and each form follows suit up to the fifth form. As a " result, there is a repetition of inf&nation-a spiral apnroach-which exulores the subiect of science a t a . greater hepth each time. The introduction to chemical concepts takes place a t the lower forms and is built upon the descriptive and practical approach so that students can get into some theoretical chemistry by the upper forms. The sciences are not viewed as separate subjects. Chemistry, physics, and biology are all integrated which gives the students a hetter perspective and appreciation for the material. At the fifth form, the students are generally preparing for the school certification exam (CERTS). A student who continues to the sixth form exam mav then annlv to anv one of the six universities for study, or the s t u d e n G a y stay bn to study a t the seventh form (advanced hieh school and eouivalent to our AI') and prepare for the university bursary exam. Passing this exam will then enable the student to rtudv at the university level with a small stipened. Chemistry at the fifth form is very factual rather than practical, and there is a great deal of memorizing. The emphasis is on such things as learning the properties of matter. Only a t the sixth and seventh forms (these are comparable to our AP Chemistry of a second year of chemistry) do the students approach theoretical chemistry. Ahout one-third of the exam a t the seventh form covers organic chemistry. &
What types of adjustments did you have to make in your approach to teaching?
One of the biggest challenges was preparing for five different classes each day! As Alan would say: "You can't get bored." In the US., many of us are accustomed to two or three preps per day. (I have never found that boring because each class has its own ~ersonalitv.) -. The lack of emphasis on equipment took some getting used to. One of Alan's comments was that the U.S. had far too much apparatus for the students. In fact, I understand he felt more comfortable by locking up some of my equipment out of sight. I, on the other hand, had to improvise and make do with basic facilities. After a while, however, I found it to be an enjoyable challenge. One thing I learned is that in America our philosophy is to
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70
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Journal of Chemical Education
replace things; in New Zealand, the philosophy is to fix things. The Kiwi are a very resourceful and energetic people. They have to be because of their eeoaranhic location and the hieh cost of importing goods an2 &rials. The simple packof matches, which we in the U.S. often take for granted, was not always available in the New Zealand lab. I soon learned to light UP to 15 Bunsen burners with a sinele match. he grading philosophy requireia big adjustment on my part. In New Zealand, grades given by the teacher have very little meaning. It is the performance on the examinations which governs the students' advancement. Consequently, you would find students who wouldn't attempt homework and others who would prefer simulv to listen in class rather than take notes. Prior &taking ex&, all students are given a week to prepare. In New Zealand, the burden of doing well on the exams is placed solely on the individual student. In the US., low achievement on exams such as the AP is all too often seen as a reflection on the teacher's ability to teach. What aspects ofthe New Zealand educationalsystem impressed you?
New Zealanders put their money into teachers' salaries rather than equipment, books, etc. There is anationalsalary guide. An individual's initial salary is based on hisher college credentials, hut all reach the same maximum in 6 7 years. The teachers are attracted in all disciplines. Furthermore, each school is allocated a certain number of "Positions of Responsibility" (extra duties), which carry additonal compensation. Another im~ressivefactor is the verv effective communication among colleagues at all levels of kducation, made possible because New Zealand is such a small countrv. It is relatively easy for educational leaders to gather for ckventions or to develop curricula. At present, there is an educational movement at the national level to computers for every school-230 public schools and 100 private schools. The University of Canterbury, Teachers College, where I was given the privilege of teaching for two davs, is providine- the maior impetus fo; computer literacy. Finally, traditions are very important to the New Zealanders. I was at Christchurch Boys' High during their Centennial Year Celebration. I t was fabulous! There was a massive reunion of former students and their families. The alumni have a very deep loyalty to their high school; a much stronger tie than at the university level. This is just the opposite of what we experience here at home. The graduates even publish an "Old Boy News1etter"that keeps everyone up to date. From my personal observation, I believe such strong traditions may even contribute to the peaceful atmosphere I observed there. There was seldom any litter around the school, and during tea break each day the students were all self-disciplined.
