Gender Equity for Mathematics and Science

Notes on Invited Faculty presentations

Geri Anderson-Nielsen

Math and science reform can't rest on the shoulders of exemplary teachers. Unless society as a whole can make an organized commitment to support that reform, the exemplary teachers will remain so in isolation. The required organized commitment is politics, and it is not a dirty word.

Our Federal Constitution reserves educational programs to the states. The federal government can only influence educational policy - by attaching strings to the 6% of education funding it provides.

There are many exemplary math and science programs, but how many schools can say that all their classrooms are exemplary? In general, this requires restructuring of schools - involving teachers of all the disciplines.

Many programs operate on the "good virus" theory, in which the examples of exemplary teachers are to be contagious and picked up by others, but the "good virus" theory will never be sufficient for reform. If we want reform to move out of our own classrooms into all classrooms, we need to enter the arena of politics, an arena for which we are well qualified because exemplary teachers are also "politic - showing sensitivity and skill in dealing with others."

But politics is the arena of interests rather than morals. Restructuring schools requires convincing entire faculties that the change is in their self-interest. Similarly, lobbying legislators requires persuading them that your goal is in their interest. The right thing to do is not enough - it's not even why teachers do the extra work they do (it's the satisfaction of seeing students have the "aha!" experience).

In pursuing change, we need to examine the communities we are a part of. One is the local teachers' union, and teachers not only vote for its officers but can also run to be elected one of them. Among other things, unions provide professional development. Another teacher community that can be an instrument of reform is professional organizations, especially local chapters. And don't forget the PTA - the "T" stands for teachers.

Anderson-Nielsen summed up the political process as "Agitate - Educate - Organize."

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