Recently I started a 10-week contract, filling in as a Math teacher at a local high school. Naturally one of my early questions was “So what senior computing classes do you have?” The answer, from the principal, was “None”. A bit of further digging revealed that a similar school had been told a number of years ago by the local university that they didn’t need high school students with any computer science of programming. “Just give us good students”.
It is an argument I have heard more than once. What it belies is the fact that students at high school are strongly encouraged to have goals, determine where they are headed, what degree will the need at younger and younger ages.
So if students don’t know what computer science, software engineering etc. is, why would they choose it at university? They’ve probably already settled on a course. And naturally the problem of numbers enrolling into such courses at university linger.
The fear that inexperienced, unknowledgeable teachers will somehow mess the students up has to be exposed for the fallacious nonsense it is. Within days, I discovered that the Math teacher who was most helpful to me starting the new job actually has a Computer Science degree. He was so energized by my talking about high school academic computing that he got a bunch of his bright year 10 students to come to a lunchtime programming club, which we teach together.
I believe that well qualified, expert teachers exist (as I have a number of similar stories) but our administrations need to notice, understand why its important to use them and use them appropriately.
So before I leave, I will seek out the school principal and let him know what a great resource he already has on board.
Margot Phillipps
CSTA International Director