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Originally Posted by mickoking
But if you are alarmed by concepts like ID and it's acceptance amongst the general community I would question 'what are the science community and educators doing about it'?
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As an astronomy educator, I am doing my best to foster an interest in astronomy in the school kids that come through the planetarium but there is a problem. Apathy. Not in the children but in the teachers and it is not just apathy towards astronomy but it can be seen in broader contexts.
The biologist on the Dateline ID segment (the quitely spoken chap with exceptionally cool "mad professor" wild hair) said that science is hard to understand and it is far easier to comprehend a "God did it" attitude. I'll go along with that and I think that it is this type of, dumbing down/go with the easy option, that has led to the apathy that I am seeing.
I will go up to a teacher and ask if there is anything they would like me to concentrate on during their school show. The equipment we have at the planetarium is sophisticated and can graphically explain odd astronomical concepts quite well. Nine and a half times out of ten I will get the following reply: "Oh, whatever you do will be fine!" (usually followed by an inane and vacuous giggle).
Have any of you ever read a science article in the paper and picked up on a really bad mistake? A mistake that should not have been made if the journo had bothered to do some basic research? I have, and each time I do, it makes me wonder about all the other articles in the paper. Apply this to the primary school teachers. If the "yeah whatever" attitude applies to astronomy then does it apply to other subjects?
So as an educator what can I do? Bypass the teachers for the hour or so that the kids are in the planetarium and try to share my enthusiasm for astronomy.
Just to set the record straight, there are some teachers who do try and you can tell they have succeeded. When an eight year old asks you where Mariner 2 went you know his teacher has been doing a good job!
Peter.