Our unit right now looks into the “ethical implications of science”. Recently for my doctorate we’ve been talking about the hidden curriculum or the null curriculum and how that effects how and what we teach. I wanted the class to explore either the ethical implications of school, or the ethical implications of science.
It was a loud hour. I remember one of my PD opportunities when I was in Australia. The leader had some balls, we were in a circle and he was trying to explain something to us while we had to move the balls around the class. It turned into a very loud exercise. The leader reminded us this is sometimes what it’s like to learn. By bringing in new thoughts and new concepts we often had to communicate loudly, or talk it out in order for it to make sense to us. So I didn’t try to disrupt the loudness too much, instead I just reminded them we had to talk about it before the end of the period.
Despite the noise there were many thoughtful responses to what is being done in science and school, the conversation (happily) didn’t end when the class ended either. Students were really digging deep to wonder why the believed something, and if what they were doing was “good”.
We’re moving from this unit into our exhibition where we are trying to sort out our values and beliefs and how we express them in our everyday actions, so I think this is a pretty good stepping stone, plus I learned a lot about how and what my co-learners are thinking.
Joe Teft 