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KiesKleurig
a colourful
choise
handbook for international
teaching materials
Auteurs: Ineke Mok & Peter Reinsch
©Parel, Utrecht 1999
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Chapter 5
The Applied Sciences
By Fred Mulder
This chapter is devoted to
those subjects that are ostensibly less subjected to a
particular cultural coloration, the scientific subjects:
mathematics, chemistry, physics, biology and technology.
Science education is becoming increasingly pragmatic. Many
textbooks contain situations from everyday experience. In
education, the applied sciences are approached through
reality. Lesson-material and assignments refer to real
situations and connect directly with the pupils' experiental
world. The opportunities for implementing an intercultural
complementation of the material lies in this connection with
the everyday life. Fred Mulder comments on examples from
lesson material and makes suggestions for dealing with
sciences in the classroom.
In a
nutshell
Imagine that someone does
not know that The Netherlands is a multi-cultural society.
Give him or her a school textbook covering a scientific
subject with the request that s/he should glance through it
from beginning to end. Would our unsuspecting, browsing
reader say: "What a diversity of ethnicity there is in that
country!"
It is hardly likely. And not
due to an absence of people in school textbooks, but because
virtually all of these people are of indigenous origins.
When a person from an ethnic background appears, s/he is
mostly only a name. An example can be found in 'Numbers and
Space', a textbook used in secondary education, in which the
six participants in a race are called Hans, Jan, Mary,
Dinesh, Dolores and Jasper. In the same book the following
sentence appears: "Achmed's train arrives at 10.47". In
quite a few books this is the only type of reference to the
multicultural composition of Dutch society. And, if the
reader is acquainted further with people from ethnic
minorities, the context is usually problematical.
Sweden
From:·S.
Selander, Sweden
Source:·Gotborn,
L. et al. (1994) Naturkunskap B. Stockholm: Natur Och
kultur, (Engl. Nature Study), Upper secondary
school.
This concern is shared by
our colleague from Sweden, Staffan Selander. In response to
our request for collaboration on this book, he has compared
a number of recent science books. In his conclusion he
proposes that physics is less directly concerned with people
than other sciences. Therefore, migrants appear seldom.
Nonetheless, when they do appear, they are associated with
problems remarkably frequently.
In this context, he mentions
a book in which migrants or people from other countries are
only depicted pejoratively in a photograph and its caption.
In Atomic Fission women from Chernobyl are depicted with the
caption: "Women leave their homes after the Chernobyl
catastrophe." An example of the negative aspects of atomic
plants. A photograph in the chapter on Food and Health has
the caption: "The child's swollen abdomen is a sign of
malnutrition." And on the subject of Diabetes: "For a
diabetic it is important to control blood-sugar levels." The
accompanying photograph is of a black girl.
In a book in which people
from all points of the globe with a diversity of physical
characteristics appear, this photograph would possibly
indicate that all children can develop chronic illness, and
the colour of her skin would not seem
significant.
This conclusion shows
clearly that it is often difficult to determine exactly why
a certain book is interculturally inadequate. Sometimes the
problems lie in the overall perspective underlying the
text.
While it appears that
science is not directly concerned with people, this chapter
makes it clear that prejudicial perspectives are just as
frequent as elsewhere.
The development of
multi-cultural education has, broadly speaking, passed the
sciences by. But they are being given a second chance.
Education in the sciences is facing up to reality and
contains an increasing number of contexts and situations
that are gleaned from the scope of the pupils' probable
experience. This realism opens some channels for renewed
attempts to introduce an intercultural approach. In biology,
physics, chemistry technology and mathematics, such an
approach is inspired by the realisation that these
disciplines have been developed throughout the world and
that non-western cultures have made a considerable
contribution.
That, in a nutshell, is the
vision that has stood as a basis for this chapter. Within
this vision it is crucial to differentiate between three
levels of approach: the classroom, Dutch society and the
globe.
Biology, physics, chemistry,
technology and mathematics will not be dealt with
separately. Examples, they will be drawn from each of the
subjects. Most of the examples are passages from school
textbooks: segments of text, illustrations, combinations of
both. Scrutinising scientific textbooks through
intercultural spectacles is not a cheering experience.
Examples of the wrong approach abound. These examples have
been supplemented with comments and suggestions for class
work.
5.1·deals with the way
science textbooks view non-western societies. This chapter
is divided into three sections.
5.2·moves on to the
level of the multi-cultural society in The Netherlands. How
can one glean from science textbooks that the The
Netherlands is a multi-cultural society? A few of these
examples indicate how the sciences can be taught to a
multi-cultural class.
5.3·addresses itself to
contributions made to the development of the mathematics
from non-western parts of the world. The suggestions can be
quite rightly said to apply to biology, physics, chemistry
and technology as well. This entails paying attention to the
history of the subject in the broadest sense, including
non-European and non-western contributions.
Virtually all examples
underscore the conclusion that school textbooks are
inadequate when read through a pair of intercultural
spectacles. Regularly, teachers will be obliged to correct
inadequacies or outright blunders. At best, the book can
offer a mere point of departure and one can try to exploit
that to the full. This may seem somewhat bleak, but hats
should be doffed to those teachers who see opportunities to
put both points into practice. At the same time, there are
teachers who say: "I would like to put the book aside from
time to time. Is there no alternative material I can use to
complement a lesson or series of lessons?"
5.1
The Image of the Non-Western Society
Rimboea
This fragment is from a
maths book and constitutes the beginning of a chapter about
measuring length.
Close to the coast of Africa
lies an island that once had the name Rimboea. The people
who lived there had certain customs they did not want to
give up.
It is well known, for example, that the Rimboeans used a
palm leaf as a measurement stick. If you asked how far away
the next tribe lived, they answered in 'thrown sticks'. If
they had to measure the thickness of something they used the
Rimboean for 'clods of earth'. (1)
Assignment
1.1·What things did the
Rimboeans use to make measurements? Do we still use them
ourselves?
This book was still in use
in the eighties. It is worth scrutinising in some detail. To
start with there is a small matter that could easily be
missed: 'Close to the coast of Africa'. Now where exactly
would that be? The coast of Africa is tens of thousands of
kilometres long. It seems the author considers a more
accurate location unnecessary, an attitude which coincides
with the image of Africa as undifferentiated, diffuse and
far away. It is ironic that this vague locational reference
should appear at the beginning of a chapter specifically
dealing with the subject of measuring length and
distance.
The island used to be called
Rimboea; what it is called now is obviously not important.
The name is clearly derived from the word 'rimboe'. This
word, meaning 'jungle', has two associations depending on
your perspective. A Westerner who enters the 'rimboe' is
seen to be undaunted by danger and hardship, but those
people who live in the jungle are primitive and
backward.
The second sentence contains
a hefty value judgement: 'certain customs they did not want
to give up'. Was that necessary? Has anyone tried to
persuade them to change? The rest of the text describes
these customs, all products of the authors imagination. To
force the point home the last assignment puts the Rimboeans
firmly in their place: 'Do we still use them
ourselves?'
Something of this calibre is
unlikely to crop up in present-day school textbooks. It has
been introduced here as a magnification of those phenomenon
that can be found in textbooks of today in a more subtle and
concealed form.
What should a teacher do
about a text of this type? It is difficult to give
generalised and comprehensive advise, because what works in
one class can fail to connect in another. Nonetheless, here
is some advice for the teacher who finds a passage to be too
objectionable for unamended use in class. Personally, I
prefer to let the pupils dismantle the text themselves by
asking them leading questions. In the case of 'Rimboea' one
could ask: 'Is this story true or is it made up? What do you
think? How can you tell?' While answering these questions in
a class discussion, elements of the teachers own analysis
are bound to crop up. It is only afterwards that an opinion
should be given. Give pupils the chance to speak for
themselves, but do not exert any pressure. If necessary, the
teacher can propose to the pupils that this piece of text
should not be used. It is easily replaced by other
material.
Toothpaste
"Every year in The
Netherlands we use about 60 million tubes of toothpaste:
that is more than four per person. It seems we take a great
deal of care to make sure our teeth stay clean and
healthy!
Those peoples who are more
closely bound to nature pay less attention their teeth.
Their food is usually tough so that the gums are massaged
through long chewing. Their teeth stay in good condition. It
is the custom among some peoples to chew resinous substances
or to use a piece of wood with a split end: the predecessor
of the toothbrush.
From the earliest times, the
ancient Egyptians used mouth washes and toothpaste-like
substances to refresh their mouth and possibly to alleviate
pain. Tooth decay was less widespread than in our own
age."(2)
It sounds rather good:
eating tough food keeps your teeth in good condition without
much effort. However, the positive message can only be read
into this text with the help of some good intentions,
because the rest of it conjures up associations with
under-development. This is due to the vocabulary: 'peoples'
and 'more closely bound to nature'. The phrase 'predecessor
of the toothbrush' makes a considerable contribution to the
pejorative connotation. The author suggests that these
'peoples' will adopt the use of toothbrushes at some future
date. There is, in other words, a gaping chasm between
developed teeth-brushers and under-developed
non-teeth-brushers. This is a variation of the mechanism
that displaces people back in time that we encountered in
the previous example.
The Dutch comedian Youp van
't Hek envisaged the ultimate scenario: "...a toothbrush
salesman who had an agreement with NOVIB about a gigantic
order for 300,000 toothbrushes a year to be sent to
Africa".11
Noteworthy is the reference
to the (ancient) Egyptians. They fulfil and intermediate
position. With their mouth washes and 'toothpaste-like
substances' they were already half way along the road to
'modern man'.
An African
House
"As a contrast to modern
domestic architecture there is a photograph of an African
house. This is a so-called 'mud hut' erected from loam and
dry grass as it has been for centuries. The construction, a
cylinder with a cone-shaped roof, has apparently had its
efficacy proven." (3)
On the basis of a cursory
reading, it seems that the African house has been described
in a positive manner. However, on a second glance it is
apparent that the African house has been presented as a
contrast to 'modern domestic architecture', as if modern
domestic architecture is not African. It is as if domestic
architecture in Africa never evolves, but is an immutable
fact. That stasis is of itself a well-know negative
stereotype when applied to Africa. Writers of school
textbooks should not write sentences such as these that
conjure up prejudices among the pupils. Take note of the way
the term 'apparently' implies scepticism. It indicates that
although the author has no personal experience in the
matter, one can assume on the basis of a centuries long
tradition in this type of building that it fulfils its
function. Implicitly, the author is saying: ' This house
would be inadequate for us Westerners, but for the people
there it serves well enough.' Or am I being overly
sensitive?
Japan and The
Netherlands
"There is a shortage of
knowledge in poor countries. The high degree of prosperity
in countries such as Japan and The Netherlands is due to the
extent of the knowledge we have acquired."(4)
This quote is a marginal
note separated from the main body of the text in a chapter
about behaviour. The chapter includes material about the
transference of knowledge. The first sentence contains a
broad generalisation; the second bears witness to a limited
view of the differences in prosperity between countries. And
the message from the combined sentences is: poor countries
are poor because they lack knowledge.
This passage is hardly
necessary to the book's main argument. As a teacher you
would probably not even bother to pay attention to it. But
the pupil who does read the text will be picking up ideas
that could dovetail effortlessly with prejudices s/he has
already acquired. In order to pre-empt this, it would be a
good idea if the teacher were to stop momentarily to deal
with the note.
In the case of an
intellectually-adept class, say A level pupils, I would
personally take the risk of asking the following question:
'Is knowledge a necessary pre-requisite for prosperity, or
merely desirable. What does it say in the text? What do you
think? ' If the pupils are familiar with logical discourse,
then it is fun to turn them loose on the text and let them
'crack' it themselves.
On a more elementary level one could ask: 'Who can think of
a country that has a lot of knowledge and is still poor?' A
single contradictory example is sufficient to expose the
generalisation in the first sentence.
5.2
The Multicultural Class
In chemistry classes the
pupils have to learn a great many names of elements, along
with their symbolic notations. The symbolic notation for the
element oxygen, for example, is 'O' from the Latin
'oxygenium'. New pupils who are multilingual might not yet
know the Dutch word for oxygen ('zuurstof'). Using the
internationally-recognised notation 'O' to clarify the word
is a simple solution. And the multilingual pupil has most
likely learnt the Latin term 'oxygenium' in her or his own
country. In many languages the names for some of the
chemical elements are close to the Latin. In Turkish the
word is 'oksijen'. For a Turkish pupil, it would be much
nicer to hear the chemistry teacher use the well-known word
'oksijen' than the potentially well-know
'oxygenium'.
A conversation of this
nature contributes to a good understanding between the
teacher and the new pupil, because the teacher is showing a
willingness to appreciate the pupils background.
Learning the names of some
of the elements in several different languages is an
excellent investment from a didactic and pedagogical point
of view. And it is simply achieved in a school with
multilingual children.
The example above concerned
oxygen, but there is also a substance called carbon
('koolstof') and a carbon compound called carbon dioxide
('koolzuur'). In a Dutch class this usually generates jokes
about cabbage ('zuurkool'). Puns of this type are often
difficult for multilingual pupils to understand. They can
feel shut out, or imagine that they are missing something
important, or even that they themselves are the object of
fun. The teacher must not be too quick to assume that the
pun cannot be explained. To continue with the example of a
Turkish pupil, although cabbage is not very common in
Turkey, it is not entirely unknown to Turks living in The
Netherlands. There is also a Turkish name for it: 'lahana
tursusu'. The teacher who can write that on the board will
have won over the pupil.
S 39
The following quotation is a
classic example from the literature concerning scientific
terminology in connection with second-language acquisition.
The point is that if you find a text too difficult for the
pupils, is it wise to start re-writing it?
The original
version:
"Before the two parts can be
soldered together they should be cleaned thoroughly with
sand paper. To allow a tin-solder, an alloy of tin and lead,
to flow smoothly, you should first put S 39 on the end of
the soldering iron."
The re-written
version:
'-·clean the parts
thoroughly with sand paper;
'-·rub a bit of S 39 onto the end of the soldering
iron;
'-·hold a piece of tin-solder against the end of the
soldering iron.' (5)
What is it about the first
piece of text that is such a nuisance? It is the use of
complex sentences and the fact that the actions are not
described in the order in which they should be carried out.
The re-written version has solved both of these problems.
But a price has to be paid. The logical cohesion has been
lost, and the reader is also not apprised of the composition
of tin-solder. Besides the reduction in information, there
are also practical objections. Teachers need a high level of
linguistic competence to produce texts that meet their own
demands. And re-writing also requires a considerable
investment as far as time is concerned which is hardly
sustainable over a longer period. Most teachers will have to
limit their initiative to an oral explanation in words the
pupils will understand.
My advice would be: always
state clearly which passage in the book your oral
explanation refers to, especially if the book is used for
homework assignments.
Amsterdam-Oujda
The applied sciences can put
a multi-cultural context to very good use as is illustrated
in the following maths assignment in which frequent visits
to countries of origin are touched upon.
"Aicha and her parents
will be driving to Morocco in the summer. She are going to a
village in the vicinity of Oujda. It is a journey of
approximately 3,500 kilometres. Once they flew. There are
direct flights once a week from Amsterdam to Oujda. How many
kilometers would that be with the airplane?" (6)
When teachers are at
work with alternative material that contains a more explicit
intercultural character, the lesson can take some unexpected
turns. There is nothing wrong with this, but it cannot do
any harm to deal with it briefly.
For this reason, teachers
must be very careful when deriving their contexts from the
countries where multilingual pupils originate. The everyday
environment that forms the basis of the pupils' experience
is predominantly Dutch, and there is a risk that a context
derived from the country of origin might mean nothing to
them. They could be caused serious embarrassment, because
they are deeply aware of the expectation that they will
recognise the situation. Imagine that in dealing with the
'Amsterdam-Oujda' assignment, a Moroccan pupil whose turn it
is has never even heard of Oujda. This can be a painful
experience, not what was intended. (Incidentally, the chance
that this will happen with Oujda is small. A very large
proportion of the Moroccans living in The Netherlands come
from the vicinity of the Rif Mountains in Northern Morocco.
Seen from the centre and the east of the Rif area, Oujda is
certainly an important city.)
The following contains an
unexpected turn of events that occurred in a lesson based on
the assignment concerning the journey to Oujda.
Mahmoud: How do you know
that? Have you been to Morocco?
Teacher: Yes, but not to
Oujda. I took a budget flight to Agadir.
Mahmoud: We aren't allowed
to do that.
Murat: Yes, it's the same
going to Turkey. Budget flights are only for ourists. That's
discrimination.
Teacher: I didn't know that.
How come? (7)
Suddenly
discrimination was the topic of the class discussion. The
teacher's reaction in situations such as this one is of
crucial importance for her or his relationship with the
class. It is tempting to put the discussion about
discrimination aside due to a shortage of time or to
re-schedule it. Ultimately, it is more beneficial to allow
the class to change course and for the teacher to enter into
discussion with the pupils.
U.K.
Source:·Young,
Robert M. "Racist society, racist science", in: Racism
and education: structures and strategies. Gill, D. et.
al. (ed), Sage, pp.303-319
Young proposes a
historical and social approach to the teaching of science in
order to reveal the cross-cultural nature of science and to
help pupils deconstruct science as a belief system in which
particular views of the world are constructed.
"The overall model for
a science curriculum should be one that always considers all
the following in their mutual interrelations:
-·origins
-·assumptions
-·articulations
-·who
benefits
-·alternatives
When we begin to think
of alternative perspectives, we can look at science as a way
of expressing the values of a given culture. We can also
begin to question those who want to maintain the separation
between science and culture." (p.314)
"There are alternative
ways of thinking about the world - alternative world-views -
in different cultures as well as in our own. If we try to
think like anthropologists, we can look at scientists as a
tribe and the assumptions of science as a belief system.
There is a literature about some of these matters which
shows how our 'tribe' and others construct their world-views
or cosmologies and set up knowledge systems, technologies
and cures within that framework..." (p.312)
Concrete examples are, of
course, studies of human races and racial traits.
5.3Non-Western
Contributions to the Applied Sciences
Omar Khayyam's
Triangle
In 'Getal en Ruimte'
(Numbers and Spaces), part 4V AB (presently out of print),
there is a Chinese 'Pascal's Triangle' depicted in the
chapter on 'combinatoriek'. I once used this chapter with a
group of multilingual students, several of whom, being of
Chinese origins, were appreciative. However, students from
Iran protested that this was not Pascal's Triangle but
Khayyam's Triangle. I asked if they meant the poet Omar
Khayyam and, indeed, they informed me that Khayyam belonged
to that breed of universal scholars now extinct. His year of
birth remains unknown, but he probably died in
1123.
My curiosity was now
genuinely aroused and I asked if they had an Iranian school
textbook dealing with Khayyam's Triangle. One Iranian
student arrived for the next lesson with one of her own
early mathematics books. The triangle was referred to as
'the Triangle of Pascal-Khayyam'. Both viewpoints were
correct, even though it had to be acknowledged that Khayyam
was first. Pascal published his version in 1653. The Chinese
triangle from 'Numbers and Spaces' appeared to have been
attributed to one Chu Shih Chieh, who wrote about it in
1303: later than Khayyam but prior to Pascal.
What pragmatic conclusions
can we draw from this example for teachers? Seeing as there
is no such thing as a truly intercultural school textbook
for an applied science, it is important to be aware of
potential intersections and make use of them.
Black Egyptians and White
Greeks
In the western imagination
the Egyptians in the era of the Pharaohs were white. In
reality it is almost certain that they were black.
Naturally, their skin colour is irrelevant to a
consideration of their achievements. However, recently
educational programmes have been developed, in particular in
the United States of America, in which the dark skin colour
of the ancient Egyptians is pronounced.
"In order to promote a
higher level of self-esteem among black pupils, the Webb
School in Washington's poor inner-city has changed to a
so-called Afrocentric school curriculum. (...) The small
children at the Webb School now learn that they are
descendants of black princesses and kings, that Africans
invented time and fire along with just about everything
else, and that the white Greeks stole all their classical
wisdom from the 'black' Egyptians, and that white racism is
the cause of all evil." (8)
This provides no
solution either. The following is an example of a more
balanced approach.
"The link between the
sides of a right-angled triangle that is generally known as
Pythagoras' Theorem has been described, proven and applied
in several different locations during the course of history.
As a clay tablet from circa 1900-1650 BC bears witness, the
Babylonians used it to calculate the diagonal of a square
with one known side measurement. Pythagoras himself lived
about 500 BC and it is known that both he and his fellow
Greek mathematicians travelled to Egypt and Mesopotamia.
According to some sources, Pythagoras even went to India."
(9)
A study of Pythagoras'
Theorem is still mandatory, even in the new curriculum. It
would be wonderful if school textbooks would provide
historical information in the manner shown above. But they
do not. Make sure, therefore, that you can add a bit of
history. An entirely comprehensive treatment should not be
your aim. Allow your own curiosity about historical
developments to help you select a number of subjects, ones,
moreover, that have readily available sources, and in the
course of the year introduce them to the class. The story of
Pythagoras' Theorem is a good candidate to my mind. 'The
Crest of the Peacock' mentioned above is a suitable source
of information.
Mecca
My last example concerns the
means of determining the qibla, the direction in which
Muslims must pray - facing Mecca that is.
There are prayer mats with
in the middle a compass, called a 'Mecca metre', which
points out the correct direction. This context is a
wonderful opportunity to move into interculturality on three
levels: firstly, the class; secondly, Dutch society; and
thirdly, the whole world. Islamic pupils in the class will
feel engaged. Even when they are not strict on religious
observances, they will certainly be familiar with the
practices. Take into account that there are also non-Muslims
living in Islamic countries.
Given the multicultural
character of Dutch society, an acquaintance with the means
of determining the qibla would be useful for all pupils.
Mosques in The Netherlands are also built with the necessary
orientation towards.
On the third level, that of
the whole world, this example gives insights into the
contributions made by the Islamic world to developments in
mathematics and astronomy. Most of the two hundred Islamic
manuals on astronomy that appeared between 750 and 1750 AD
dedicate at least one chapter to the qibla. Different
methods are described. In some constructions the earth is
still depicted as a flat surface, which offers a fair
estimation of the qibla for a area not extending too far
beyond Mecca itself. However, no Islamic astronomer would
have seriously considered the earth to be flat.
Other constructions work
with large circles in order to indicate directions and
shortest distances on a globe. (These are circles that
divide a globe into two halves.)
'Mecca' is a
rich and efficient context that serves more than one
objective by striving to encompass the three levels of
intercultural education. This is a great advantage as far as
alternative material for use alongside a textbook is
concerned, because choosing and dealing with a context
requires a significant investment in terms of time, both on
the part of the teachers as well as the class.
'Mecca' is also a rich
context in the terms of subject content itself. Using 'large
circles' an elegant link can be made to
mathematically-related problems in completely different
contexts. Take the following assignment for example:
'Explain why a plane flying from The Netherlands to
Vancouver maintains such a firm northerly
course?'
5.4
Notes
1 Wiskunde
in uitvoering (Mathematics in Action), part 1 (out of
print). p.186.
2 Scheikunde voor
mavo (Chemistry for Secondary Education), part 1.
Groningen: Wolters Noordhoff, 1986.
p.87.
3 Wiskunde in
katernen voor het MTO (Mathematics in Sections for Middle
Technical Education), part 1. Rijswijk: Nijgh & Van
Ditmar, 1991. p.95.
4 Biologie overal
(Biology Everywhere), part 5V. Educaboek, 1992.
p.147.
5 Hofmans-Okkes,
L., Schoolboeken leren lezen. (Learning to Read School
Textbooks). Coutinho, 1987. p.33.
6 Mulder, F.,
Wiskunde een Wereldvak (Mathematics around the World)
Freudenthal instituut RU Utrecht/SLO Enschede, 1992.
p.107.
7 Wiskunde een
Wereldvak. (Mathematics around the World)
Utrecht/Enschede: Freudenthal instituut RU Utrecht/SLO,
1992. p.14-15.
8 In: NRC
Handelsblad, 16 oktober 1993.
9 From:
Handreikingen Basisvorming Openbaar Onderwijs - Wiskunde.
(Guidelines for the Foundations of Education -
Mathematics)Utrecht: APS/SBOO, 1993.
p.36.
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