The Dispensers of Knowledge – Science Inquiry in the NYC Classroom (2024)

Based on my observations in NYC science classrooms, my discussions with educators, and reading of literature, there often seems to be a dynamic in which the teacher and the textbook are viewed as the ultimate dispensers of knowledge. Professor Steinberg alludes to this dynamic various times throughout his book. He describes his observations of one teacher who is regarded as highly effective in his school, Mr. Lowrey. Mr. Lowrey’s asked his students to find the definition of inertia on the internet, copy other definitions from a powerpoint, complete a fill in the blank worksheet with these definitions, and finally calculate the weight of an object using the relation that weight is equal to mass multiplied by the constant value “g”. This lesson has students taking information from the internet and their teacher’s powerpoint as fact, memorizing it, and answering questions that test no deeper understanding of the concepts. It gives students no chance to make these discoveries on their own or to connect them to what they see in the real world. Why is Mr. Lowrey’s lesson considered effective if his students performed almost no scientific reasoning, observations, or discussion?

There is a norm that has been created in many of our schools: students are searching for the “right” answer and teachers are there to give it to them. Steinberg also discusses his students’ frustration with him challenging this dynamic, which he refers to as the “institutional suppression of thinking,” by attempting to have his students perform independent thinking and learning (60). Instead of giving students a step-by-step cookbook lab about buoyancy, he decided to give his students more freedom and less direct instruction. However, he was met with frustration and dissatisfaction from his students instead of excitement and curiosity. One defeated student said, “How am I supposed to do it if you don’t tell me? Hey Phil (across the room), go build a rocket but I’m not going to tell you how” (61). I have had many similar encounters during my fieldwork in NYC classrooms. As students perform independent or group-work solving problems, many would call me over to ask, “Is this right?” Many would become exasperated when I began to question them about how they got to their answer instead of just replying yes or no. Students want immediate satisfaction of getting the right answer, having a teacher know that they got the right answer, and seem to not even really care if they do not understand how they got to that answer. This dynamic has developed as a result of many years of schooling in which students expect their teachers to directly dispense information to them. A transition toward more student-driven classrooms must begin at the very start of a student’s education. If we give students more freedom earlier in their education, high school science teachers will not be met with the same frustrations during inquiry-based lessons.

In addition, we must also begin altering the role of the textbook in the classroom. There is a trend of using the textbook to dispense information directly to students because it is an easy way to cover as much content as possible. I have observed lessons in which the students are directed to read certain pages and answer the questions at the end of the chapter, which are normally simple recall questions and are rarely questions that give students the chance to practice critical thinking. We must assist students in transitioning from their dependency on the teacher and textbook for the right answer and toward enjoying the process of scientific discovery and independent thinking.

Of course, textbooks are very useful tools for the science classroom; they present teachers with a logical and “balanced” way of organizing content (Teacher Vision). Viewing the textbook more as a supplemental resource than the major source with every fact they need to memorize will benefit our classrooms. One way to accomplish this is to vary the sources the students use to read about and analyze content; students can work with research articles, books, and encyclopedias as well as multimedia resources, such as websites, simulations, and videos.

It is especially important to differentiate sources for the various needs of students in NYC classrooms. Telling every student in an urban classroom to pick up the same textbook, read, and answer the questions is not going to be effective or even possible for some students. For example, many students are ELLs and will need different reading material than a non-ELL student. Another useful strategy for teachers is to use textbook questions to develop their own questions that require higher-order thinking. The textbook can also be used as a tool for students to review concepts at home instead of a way to introduce new material. This gives more class time for students to be performing more active learning. The widespread transition toward inquiry-driven classrooms in NYC begins with teachers who are aware of these dynamics and are attempting to move away from them in their individual classrooms.