Some personal news: I told you in my last FB post (see goo.gl/nOUeAZ ) that a science teacher in my 17 year-old daughters high school is teaching the kids climate change denialism. I wanted to alert the school to that because I dont think its right. Here is the letter I wrote to the head of science teaching at the school... Dear [head of science]: I am concerned about something that happened in my daughters 12th grade science course, and I was told that you are head of that department, so you seemed like the logical person to turn to. According to my daughters report, the teacher in that class introduced the subject of climate change in a highly misleading way that to my mind is educational malpractice— and certainly something you should be aware of. He said that some scientists think the earth is getting warmer while others disagree and students should keep an open mind because there are two sides. He gave the impression that these two sides were of roughly equal evidentiary strength and validity. My daughter raised her hand and said that this isnt accurate: the overwhelmingly consensus among scientists is that climate change is real, that the earth is getting warmer, and that human action is triggering it. He rejected this intervention. It is true, of course, that some scientists dissent from that overwhelming consensus, and this makes for a valid classroom issue (because of course science almost never achieves unanimity.) If the teacher had presented it that way — a strong consensus, but a small number of scientists who disagree — that would have been responsible, accurate, interesting for the class to discuss, and good education. If he had said there is a solid consensus in the scientific world that global warming is happening and human action is a huge factor in it, but no consensus at all on what we should do about it, or how alarmed we should be, that too would have been responsible, interesting, and accurate teaching. But he did not do either of those things. Instead, he presented the matter of whether human beings are creating a warmer planet as a fully open question, about which there is no consensus, just an inconclusive debate with two sides that both have arguments and facts on their side. 50-50. It is clear from my daughters report that he intends to take a teach the controversy approach to climate change, similar to how proponents of intelligent design teach the controversy in order to avoid instructing students in the overwhelming evidence for Darwins theory of evolution. This is a tactic that teachers of science should be alert to. And so should teachers at a Jewish school, because teach the controversy has roots in Holocaust denial. When my daughter tried to interject that scientific opinion about global warming isnt really split in the way the teacher was suggesting, she was told that she has to learn how to keep an open mind. No other students spoke up about the matter. He later sent this note to the class: Not surprisingly, we will be discussing some controversial subjects this semester. It is critical that you keep an open mind... We ask for just one thing. Forget what you have been taught regarding certain current events and now judge the issues by the facts and with an open mind. Forget what you have been taught? Who is he talking about there? Whose teaching should be forgotten? My daughter said that it is generally known among students that this teacher is a global warming denialist. That disturbs me. It particularly disturbs me that a teacher whose mind is closed to the overwhelming weight of scientific opinion, and who will not render it that way for students even though it is that way in reality, is lecturing my daughter and her classmates on keeping an open mind. If he had an open mind he would not be introducing the subject in that false, misleading 50-50 way. As I said, I think it would be relevant and interesting to teach students that, even in the face of a strong and (over the years) growing consensus on anthropogenic global warming, a few reputable scientists still disagree. Why? How does science move ahead when there is dissent like that? I think it would be great to teach them how science can tell us theres a problem, but politicians and publics have to decide on solutions and we have no consensus on that. But again, that is not what this teacher did. In four years as a parent in your school I have never made a complaint like this. As a teacher myself, I believe in giving instructors wide latitude in how to run their classroom. I believe in academic freedom and healthy debate. But climate change denialism is a step too far for me. I think the school should be alerted to that. This teacher is miseducating students about climate change, and pretending to stand up for values like open mindedness and facts and evidence. My questions are three: were you aware of this? Have the science teachers discussed how to handle global warming? What can be done about this problem? Please let me know your thoughts. Thank you for listening. Jay Rosen
Posted on: Fri, 09 Jan 2015 02:19:49 +0000
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