Tuesday 7 November 2017

Why Teachers Should Broaden and Deepen Their Knowledge Base



Teachers of science cannot be expert in all areas of the science they teach. Nor can they expect their science knowledge they learnt in university hold them in good stead for their entire working careers. Science does not stand still. The frontiers of knowledge advance rapidly.

Keeping current and expandind your knowledge base has benefits for both teacher and student.

What are the benefits?

Click READ MORE (below) and find out ....


It helps to maintain a current knowledge base

 Some teachers find themselves in the position of having to teach science when it is not one of their main teaching areas. This makes it difficult for them to explain concepts fully and to answer student questions.

New teachers are often more concerned with classroom management in the first teaching years. They may not feel confident of the content they teach and this restricts their ability to encourage critical thinking on the subject matter.

Other teachers who have taught the same topic over and over for years (from the same book) get bored and may lose that spark of enthusiasm they once had. Sometimes burnout follows.

In my experience as a former Head of Faculty (Science) I would encourage my science staff to keep abreast of where the knowledge was headed in their specific teaching area. To help them do this I would purchase science magazine subscriptions and science videos and documentaries. I would also ask the librarian to record interesting science documentaries. Today the internet provides a wonderful world of science information.


Why bother keeping abreast of the knowledge?

For the bored teacher it may rekindle that spark of interest. You can enrich and update those lesson plans. For the teacher lacking the content knowledge it will give them more confidence to elaborate and to answer questions. The new teacher will begin to feel a little more confident and relaxed in the classroom situation.

Students benefit too

You will broaden their knowledge. You will encourage more thinking and questions. You will establish a good rapport with the class. You will gain greater respect as a teacher. You may fire up a passion that inspires a student to enter a career in science. It may help the student find their interest and motivate them to work towards a goal.


 Building Evergreen Knowledge ..

I offer to you a few science links to help get you going. You build on from these …

Phys.org (an excellent site)

Science Alert (good one for students as well)

Sci-News (handy site)

Astronomy Now (with Spaceflight Now)


Start Now !