LEARNING TO LEARN
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This campaign therefore , identified a potential reason why so many initiatives in the past have failed to make a difference : traditionally , science careers outreach has focused on what scientists and engineers ‘ DO ’, using verbs , rather than focusing on who they are .
‘ This means that girls are less likely to recognise themselves ’ and ‘ conclude that STEM is ‘ not for people like me .’’
( Wisecampaign . org 2016 )
As an English teacher , the notion that parts of speech could be pressed into service in the campaign to close this gender gap appealed to me . I was already hatching a plan to explore the potential of story-telling in Science and this gave me an idea : by giving girls the personal stories behind the science , and by encouraging them to identify personality traits , they might be less inclined to dismiss STEM as something that is not for them .
You can split an Atom ; You can split an infinitive .
It was time to cross the English / Physics divide . It was time to find common ground . You can split an atom ; you can split an infinitive ; but can you inspire future female scientists in an English classroom ? It was time to boldly go where no self-respecting English teacher had gone before ...
The Middle
My initial idea had been to create extension resources for Year 8 girls to supplement their ‘ Physics is Cool ’ module , where they were learning about Celsius and Fahrenheit . However , I met obstacles early on . Physics is a foreign country ; they do things differently there . The Key Stage 3 Science curriculum is content-heavy ; there is little room for stories . So I found myself heading into an English classroom , accompanied by Anders Celsius and an army of adjectives .
The power of story-telling is well-documented . Our minds are ‘ exquisitely tuned to understand and remember stories ’ ( Willingham , 2009 P . 51 ). To put stories to the test and to explore the merits of adjectives over verbs , two Year 8 classes were given five potted biographies of scientists . Any references to gender were removed . Three of the biographies ( Mary Anderson , Niels Bohr and Richard Fenyman ) were written using adjectival phrases ; interesting , idiosyncratic or unusual details about the person ’ s life were included . Storytelling techniques were used ; for example , the biography of Mary Anderson began by setting the scene : ‘ On a freezing , wet winter ’ s day in 1902 , Person Number 1 was travelling in a trolley car , heading to New York City …’ Two of the biographies ( Ada Lovelace and Marie Curie ) were expressed predominantly in verbs , focusing on what the person achieved , rather than who they were .
The girls were asked to rank the biographies in order of who they would most like to meet . Their unconscious biases emerged immediately .
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