The how of physics
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Abstract
In a society such as ours, increasingly concerned as it is with improving quality, it is relatively easy to find data charting the fortunes, good or ill, of the quality of education. League tables are such an example. The `quality' of a school, whatever that means, might be judged by its league table position. A science department might be judged as offering a high quality service if its value-added indices are positive. There is often mention made of the quality of A-level students or postgraduate entrants to the teaching profession. What then of the quality of physics teaching? As an initial trainer/educator of physics teachers I am expected to have a view as to some of the ingredients which might be part of the balanced diet of good physics teaching. School inspectors certainly have a view. I expect that most heads of departments and advisers will also have something to say on the subject. Perhaps there is a consensus within the profession as to what constitutes good physics teaching. Certainly at the IOP Congress two years ago a number of teachers in a discussion session I chaired came up with what appeared to be a shared view of the qualities of good teaching. These qualities included teaching that allowed for pupils to have their say, to articulate their ideas, teachers who listened and encouraged discussion, group work and problem solving tasks, clear lesson structures shared with learners, imaginative use of resources, shared enthusiasm, clear outcomes and much more. If there is a professional consensus then why can many physics lessons be so cripplingly dull? The gradual demise in the status of physics as a desirable subject of choice, post-16, in schools has resulted in fewer young people choosing to study physics and to teach physics. If physics has an image problem, there is all the more reason for the quality of physics teaching to rise above the mediocre. Now one might say that I am speaking from a limited experience and the situation I describe doesn't apply to your teaching. You are probably right on both counts. However, the fact that you are reading this journal indicates that you are likely to be taking a dynamic interest in your own teaching, more interest than most. As far as my sampling goes, you only have to speak to students who watch physics teaching in schools and to inspectors who do the same and to heads of departments who make it their job to get out and about into other classrooms. Yes, there is good teaching but there is so much that is simply as safe as houses, plodding through the syllabus, covering the material in a transmission style but so unimaginatively. Physics teaching looks tired. Is there an initiative to be taken? Recent curriculum developments have forged ahead with new materials for learners. But most of this amounts to developments in the WHAT of physics teaching. They offer either support for learners or new interpretations of syllabus content. There is no doubt that these initiatives are of considerable value and they will help to change the face of physics as a subject but I don't think in themselves they offer solutions that will change the HOW of physics teaching in the way that, for example, the Nuffield initiatives did in the 1970s. The original Nuffield programmes included teacher's handbooks that had pages devoted to teaching strategies. The guides encouraged reflection on such issues as the dangers of teaching theory, students reporting their findings, the value of discussion in helping students to `get ideas inside themselves' etc. There were pages about the HOW alongside pages about the WHAT. There is no doubt that a factor in this equation resides with national issues such as school resources, class sizes, contact hours and the drive to increase pass rates. However, even within these parameters can we identify ways forward that will enable professional change and revitalize classroom experiences? Schools have a long history of in-service professional development but I wonder if development days have lost the plot somewhat. How often are such days devoted to generic, whole school issues and how often do they focus on teachers and teaching? As a teacher I found it a rare luxury to find a forum, both the time and the place, to talk about teaching. Occasionally the ASE local section meetings or the ASE annual meeting provided space for professional reflection, and I often returned from such events with ideas to try out and to share with colleagues. Perhaps better use might be made of subject departments as agents for change. A modest investment in training middle managers as teacher-mentors and leaders might result in change that would be managed from within schools. Teachers helping teachers. I'll end this editorial with a plea to head teachers, advisers, department heads and the physics teaching community. Resurrect the HOW of physics teaching. Let's create space and time for teachers to share, reflect and explore their trade, to observe others teaching, to articulate their strategies for lesson planning and motivating learners and to be brave enough to step out from the stifling atmosphere of their classroom boxes and breathe again.