In order for educators to aim for inquiry-driven instruction they must believe that their students will be able to handle the freedom of a student-directed classroom. From my research and observations in NYC classrooms, it appears that some of the time teachers do not hold high enough expectations of their students. For example, dense classrooms often lead to classroom management challenges that make a student-directed classroom seem unappealing or even impossible. As of 2012, “nearly half of NYC’s public schools have classrooms that are more crowded than the teachers’ union contract allows” (Kuczynski). I will analyze how the trends in these classrooms affect the outlook of teachers and how these perspectives may alter the opportunities given to their students.
Firstly, we must discuss general trends present in urban school systems. Michael Fullan and Alan Boyle highlight the growing importance of socioeconomic status on a student’s academic performance. With the increasing levels of income inequality in cities, it is important to note that “students from less-advantaged households or families will have lower levels of achievement and poorer outcomes” (Fullan & Boyle 3). In addition, there are noticeable trends between a student’s “first language, ethnicity, and migration status” and their success in school (4). I must clarify that student outcomes vary greatly between students of the same socioeconomic, linguistic, ethnic, and migrant backgrounds; a student’s background is not an outright indicator of that student’s achievements. Furthermore, these “socioedemographics are not themselves the challenges of urban school systems,” but they have resulted in structures of the school system that have led to the trends we are analyzing (Ahram, Stembridge, Fergus, & Nogeura).
With teachers aware of these trends, they might be predisposed to creating stricter classrooms with not very challenging instruction. Teachers seem to be prematurely preparing for the lower achieving classrooms they have been conditioned to expect. It has been shown that some educators “perceive the cultural practices of the home environment as causing low-income and racial/ethnic minority children to be unable to learn or in conflict with school practices” (Ahram). Educators that have these flawed perceptions of the race and class of their students will set the bar very low for their students as they will not expect them to be able to succeed in a challenging, student-directed classroom. This makes it harder for these students to succeed and the cycle continues on.
Steinberg discusses his observations of these kinds of negative teacher attitudes in his NYC high school. One teacher who was having behavioral problems in his classroom expressed to Steinberg that he believed something is “organically wrong” with his students and that the only reason he does not shoot them is “because [he] would go to prison” (87). The hostile environment in this classroom does not encourage students to take risks that are necessary for learning, such as participating and asking questions. Additionally, due to his belief that there is something inherently wrong with his students, this teacher does not even attempt to provide his students with the opportunity to learn science. Even an effective teacher that Steinberg often visited for teaching advice told Steinberg to simply put problems on a test that were almost exactly the same as problems he had done for them in class (87). This reciting of information is the most basic form of learning and is the lowest goal that can possibly be set for a science classroom. However, the current dynamic in NYC classrooms is leaving some teachers frustrated and believing that this is the highest form of thinking their students will achieve.
Teachers faulty perceptions are not only leading to these troubling dynamics in the classroom as a whole, but also on the level of individual students. Some educators may perceive different learning styles as “intellectual deficiencies” according to the RTI Action Network (Ahram). For example, minority students’ cultural differences may be misunderstood as “learning or emotional” disabilities; differences caused by a lower socioeconomic background may cause similar misunderstandings (Ahram). These faulty perceptions are also causing these educators to lack confidence in their students’ abilities, while, in reality, this diversity can be and should be used to the teacher’s advantage (which I will discuss more later).
Along with teachers’ faulty perceptions of their students, these types of unstimulating, teacher-centered classrooms are sometimes due to logistical reasons. It might be necessary to increase time and attention focused on “behavioral management [and] counseling” (Fullan 6). While teachers may want to work on creating more challenging instruction for their students, their attention may be diverted to other, more urgent goals. In our many overcrowded classrooms in NYC schools, classroom management has to be a major focus for our teachers. From my observations in NYC middle and high schools, even the teachers I considered to be very effective and respected often had to shift their focus from creating an inquiry-based classroom to dealing with other problems, such as misbehavior or lateness.
Classroom management plagues even the most learned teacher; Steinberg dedicates an entire chapter to his classroom management troubles. Even as a devoted teacher, who is well-versed in inquiry-based teaching, he begins to lose steam and notices that the students do learn through his inquiry activities, but “behave better when [he] is writing lots of stuff on the board for them to copy down” (40). This observation is troubling and adds to our understanding of why inquiry-based classrooms are not the norm in NYC schools. As a previous student in NYC public schools, I was conditioned from an early age to quietly copy information from the board or a textbook and independently or sometimes in a group answer questions about that information. By the time I reached high school, I did not have sufficient practice in a student-directed classroom. When finally given this freedom in the classroom, it is exciting, overwhelming, and even confusing. Therefore, I propose that if inquiry-based classrooms become the norm, students will also learn to behave in that kind of learning environment. Freedom for students in our classroom does not have to result in misbehavior, and every student should get the chance to learn how to perform in an environment in which they can engage in true scientific thinking and discovery.
Our students are not only held back by low expectations of teachers, but are also hindered by low standards from the school system as a whole. About half of NYC’s high schools do not offer any science Advanced Placement course and about twenty-one percent of our high school students do not even have the option of taking a chemistry or physics course (Hemphill, Mader, & Corey). This lack of demanding courses and science courses in general are taking away the opportunity for many of our students to succeed in science. If students are not given the chance to take these classes in high school, they will not only be unprepared for college level courses, but they will also most likely not have developed an interest in science that would lead them to want to study science further. The same can be said for math courses available; 232 out of 396 high schools do not offer any Advanced Placement math courses (Hemphill). This is significant because these low standards also leave our students unprepared in terms of math that they will need to use in their science college courses. Therefore, we need to set higher standards for our students on the classroom level and the school level in order for them to properly explore what science has to offer them.
One strategy for teachers to set higher standards and give more freedom to their students is through Project-Based Science (PBS). The Center for Learning Technologies in Urban Schools (LeTUS) developed a curriculum of projects that embraces the intentions of inquiry based instruction.
The design principles include a context that engages students in extended authentic investigations through a driving question, collaborative work that allows students to communicate their ideas, learning technologies to find and communicate solutions, and the creation of artifacts that demonstrate student understanding and serve as the basis for discussion, feedback and revision” (Tal, Krajcik, & Blumenfeld 724)
These fundamentals of the PBS curriculum allow students to develop all the skills necessary to be future scientists, such as working in teams, inquiring about scientific phenomena, meticulously collecting data, and being able to articulate their findings.
A qualitative study published in the Journal of Research in Science Teaching discusses how PBS and inquiry-based instruction was successfully utilized in an urban middle school in Detroit (Tal). The study’s findings focused on the experiences of two teachers, Ms. Anderson and Ms. McGee, as representative cases of effective strategies and challenges while utilizing PBS. For example, Ms. Anderson had her students investigate the phases of matter and chemical change through an air quality project in which the students explored air pollution around their school. They made observations, collected data, and even “used modeling software to create air quality models that could be tested and evaluated” (Tal 731). Overall, Ms. Anderson had her students perform genuine science by encouraging collaboration between students, developing a supportive and positive classroom environment, and using the technology available in her classroom to her advantage. Ms. McGee used PBS to teach her students about force and motion by having them design helmets for an egg crash test dummy; the students were able to collect data about the motion of the egg and the cart it was in. Similar to Ms. Anderson, Ms. McGee was also successful because of the respectful and collaborative classroom atmosphere she created with her students. This allowed her to give the necessary freedom to her students to perform their investigations and develop their own knowledge of the content. These cases demonstrate how urban school teachers can implement inquiry learning through project-based science. Clearly, the teacher must have confidence in his or her students in order to create adequately challenging instruction and encourage his or her students to achieve more by raising their goals. These classroom dynamics are vital to promoting student-centered learning.