Rethinking the Way We Teach Science ─ The Interplay of Content, Pedagogy, and the Nature of Science

Offering a fresh take on inquiry, this book draws on current research and theory in science education, literacy, and educational psychology, as well as the history and philosophy of science, to make its case for transforming the way science is taught.
Re-thinking the Way We Teach Science addresses major themes in national reform documents and movements--how to place students at the center of what happens in the classroom; how to shift the focus from giving answers to building arguments; how to move beyond narrow disciplinary boundaries to integrated explorations of ideas and issues that connect directly with students; and most especially, the importance of engaging students in discussions of an interactive and explanatory character. Deeply anchored in the classroom, highly interactive, and relevant across grade levels and subject matter, above all this is a book about choosing to place the authority of reason over that of right answers.

Lou Rosenblatt is a teacher with over 30 years of experience, chiefly at The Park School, but also at The Baltimore Freedom Academy, Johns Hopkins University, The University of Leeds, and Gallaudet College. He is a consultant with TIES, having worked chiefly with Baltimore City Public Schools and STEM schools in North Carolina. He has published several articles and presented at numerous conferences, and he was a member of the design team which secured funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation among others to establish The Baltimore Freedom Academy.

Contents
Preface
Chapter One: On Wonder
Interlude: A Note on City Schools
Chapter Two: On the Shift from Answers to Arguments
Interlude: On the Differences between "What?" and "So what?"
Chapter Three: On the Logic of the Classroom
Interlude: The History of Greece
Chapter Four: Inquiry as Re-Construction
Interlude: Peter Rabbit and Plato
Chapter Five: What Do We Teach When We don’t Teach the Answer?
Interlude: Uncovering the Gods
Chapter Six: On Story
Interlude: Why it’s a Good idea to Smack your Lips When the Lord of the Manor is Around.
Chapter Seven: STEM –a Promethean Program
Interlude: Taking Measure of Things.
Chapter Eight: On the Politics of Learning
Last Interlude: Let the Kids have the Last Word