Observations and reflections from a five month placement with the University of Canterbury School of Earth and Environment, thanks to the Science Teaching Leadership Programme 2025a
Week 8 - # DunnerStunner (AKA dazed and confused down South)
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Hopeful signs for the begging of the course? Actually no, just a caution that rain was on the way...
After a month in the UC School of Earth and Environment, much investigation has been observed! I have spent most of my time with the Geologists, with a little Environmental Science investigating insect populations. Whether working in the field to formal laboratory sessions, the vast majority of investigations have been ' classifying and identifying ', with some ' exploring ' in the field and also some ' pattern seeking '. So far I have not really observed any investigating models, fair testing, making things, or developing systems. This is certainly in part due to the nature of Earth Sciences - where there is 'no planet B' and there are often multiple complex and interacting variables, often with limited or no ability to control variables. This is an almost total reverse of most high school science lessons, where there is a focus on fair testing and testing models (" proper science") with occasional tangents into making things or developin...
LAYER 1: Using the Nature of Science: Understanding about Science statements below, what have I been seeing / experiencing in my host placement? Where was I when I saw them, what happened, what was I or the scientists doing/saying? The majority if the following observations fall out of conversations with faculty and students within the School of Earth and Environment at the University of Canterbury. These observations or conversations happened both during 'break times' at university, during laboratory sessions and on field trips. • Science is based on observation of the natural and physical world around us . Geologists do this ALL THE TIME - including visual observations during field trips, examining photographic records of sites and also seismographic measurements. • Scientists critique other scientists methods and ideas . I have seen less of this - most work is ongoing, and critique seems to be more active during review than on a day to day basis - PhD students decide on a...
The lack of time to think about how your new learning relates to your practice and how it can be incorporated in your lessons is often a major challenge in teaching PLD. One of the wonderful aspects of being a participant teacher with the STLP is that we have the time to stop, think about and reflect on the material we have covered. I have been giving some thought recently to various theoretical, philosophical and observational views of leadership, from Machiavelli to Jung and how these are displayed in various cultures. The Otago leadership course was clearly influenced by Jungian philosophy/ psychology, with an emphasis of self-awareness, authenticity and the integration of different parts of our personality, and of course through the use of MBTI testing. The idea of trustworthy, honest leaders with a clear sense of purpose and direction, and a vision for the future is very appealing - the leaders we want. The considerably less rosy view of Machiavelli is that there is a tendenc...
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