Awakening the Scientific Genius in African Nova Scotian Children

 

by Harvey H. Millar Ph.D.

 

Who was Benjamin Bannekar? Who was Dr. Charles Drew?, Who was Dr. Benjamin?. All these individuals are Africans who have made a significant contribution to science! So who says Blacks cannot do science? Is it you? Is it me? Or is it your child's teacher?

 

Does your child ask questions about how planes fly?, what makes a car work?, what makes a bulb light?, why are leaves green?, or how the body functions? I am sure we would all agree that all children ask these questions at some point in time. But do they stop after a while? Do they show any interest in scientific literature - fact or fiction? Do they build things - such as fans, electrical circuits, miniature buildings, etc? Better yet, are you encouraging your children to explore science? Do you take them to science fairs, buy them scientific toys such as a magnifying glass, a chemistry set, a drafting kit, a medicine kit? Does your child talk about the science projects they are working on in school? Do they talk about their science teacher? Do they talk about the new things they have learned? If too many of your answers are no, then there may be a good chance your child will not end up pursuing a scientific discipline unless they receive the necessary stimuli at some later point in life. But then it might be too late for there is too much catching up to do.

 

It would appear that many Black children for several reasons, do not perform well in the sciences or they do not pursue careers in the scientific domain. There is some evidence to support this. In Nova Scotia, where are our Black Mathematicians, Engineers, Architechts, Nurses, Doctors, Technologists, Dentists, and Accountants? Is it that we hate Math and Science, or is it that we are told that we are no good at these subjects? We need to explore several questions: Are we as parents doing all we can to encourage our children to enjoy the sciences? Is the school system doing a number on Black children? Is Math and Science valued by our society? Is the media a major culprit?

 

I can recall several impotant influences in my early schooling in the Caribbean that moved me towards the Sciences. For one, students who did well in the sciences were well respected and revered by their peers, their parents, and the larger society. Most scholarship awards were made to science students. In the school system, the sciences were emphasized very strongly. Every grade level had three classes of students: the B-level (the 'lowest'), the A-level , and the Special-level (the 'best'). Students in the special-level were the students destined to major in the sciences, the students in the B-level were general, and those in the A-level destined for the arts. While in retrospect, I do not fully agree with this system, it says that if you want to encourage your child towards the sciences, the child must be told and shown that science is important.

 

Before we can begin to work with our children, we must have a good sense of the major factors at play. Also, we ought to recognize that fact that the prospective science student must have or develop a keen inclination towards discovery. The student must be inquisitive (in a learning sense), they must be willing to read a great deal, analyse information, and debate questionable observations.

 

It is my opinion that the school system fails Black children where science is concerned. Nuturing the scientific genius in any child requires a mentoring relationship between the teacher and the student. The teacher must be both a mentor and role model to the student, and must share the childs excitement in discovery. Judging from conversations with many parents and students, Black students rarely enjoy this kind of relationship with their teachers who are largely White. This phenomenon is further complicated by the belief which many White teachers hold that Blacks are intellectually inferior, particularly in the sciences, and that Blacks have made little contribution to the advancement of science. A major change necessary in the schools therefore, is a greater number of teachers who are effective science teachers, who love children, and who possess the ability to nuture children outside of their own race and ethnicity. Even more importantly, there is a need for elementary science teachers of African descent who would help to catalyze the interest of Black children in the sciences from an early age.

 

There is another area where I believe the school system is failing our children - that's in the quality of the education they receive. As a professor at Saint mary's university for the past 5 years, I have taught close to 2000 students who supposedly have a grade 12 education, and who have taken Math 441 (academic math). Many of the students appear to be ill-prepared. I find my asking repeatly, what were these students taught in high school. I am talking about a generation of students who after some 10-12 years of schooling need a calculator to figure out the value of 3 multiplied by 5 - and these are white children. Our children receive an inferior education because of several socio-economic factors. Racism, prejudice, sexism, classism, poverty, a lack of role models, are all important factors. It little wonder we are hard-pressed to find Black students in science classrooms.

 

Parents are also part of the equationn. They have a major role to play in stressing the importance of the sciences to their children, and reinforcing a high expection for their performance in the sciences. The purchasing of scientific books and scientific toys that to provide the necessary stimuli is very important. There are many toys for kids that use the latest (usually computer) technology. Nintendos, computer games, and so on. The problem is that many of these are not affordable, and many are passive learning vehicles. Most kids will learn the rules of a game, but know little about the design process and the logic behind the design of a game. Military toys, Ninja Turtles, Barbie dolls, are all very passive and do not stimulate the discovery process. A magnifying glass, microscope, or chemistry set would provide much greater stimuli for our young children.

 

Negative peer pressure is a very important element in the equation. Studies have shown that peers and television are two of the most influencial elements that predicates a childs behavior. Given the extent of materialism, comercialism, and the nature of pop culture which Black youth shape constantly, academic excellence as a trait is not well respected by peers. Jaawanza Kunjufu in his book "To be Popular or Smart" talks about this phenomenon. Its seems to be cool to be a renegade in the classrom, do no homework, and fail miserably. Parents have an unenviable task of combatting this phenomenon

 

One of the biggest culprits in maintaining the underperformance of Black children in science is the television. Studies have shown that all children watch an inordinate amount of television. Many of our parents use television as a babysitting tool. We tend to use it as a reward for completing a chore or some homework. When kids have no homework, we think that it is ok to watch television to pass the rest of the time. There is reading, playing, drawing, creating, and discovering. We must provide more meaningful alternatives to the television.

 

The unfortunate fact is that television is a very passive learning medium. We cannot question the television. If we disaggre with what is being said, we cannot engage the television in a debate. Besides, many of our children believe what they hear on television is always correct. Even adults quote television constantly as if it were a reliable source of information. So we can imagine the damage to our children. While television does offer some excellent educational programs, by and large, it does more harm than good. parents have to play a major role in programming their children's television habits. Television does not do a great job of stimulating the scientific genius in our children.

 

There are many other factors we could discuss. Space limitations however make it imposible to do so. We hope, however, that the factors we identified will be useful in identifying our role in awakening the scientific genius in our children. There are several things we can do. Parents can take an active interest in what goes on in the school. It is important you get to know the teachers, in particular the science teacher. Ask the teacher about your kid's performance and how you might help (learning is a shared responsibility). Ask your kid to discuss his/her experiments with you. Experiments are exciting discovery activities. Share the excitement your child feels when they have learnt something new. Buy both active and passive toys for your child. Further, do not buy into girl toys/boy toys mold. Buy your kids unisex toys wherever possible. Buy toys that stimulate inquisition, discovery, and creativity. Take you child to the zoo, science and industry museums, science fairs, industrial complexes. If it is possible, introduce your child to a scientist, doctor, engineer, accountant, architect, technologist, a computer scientist, and so on. A mentoring relationship between a science teacher or some other science-oriented person could be very powerful.

 

It is important to teach your child the value of science and the opportunities that are related to science. Teach them about Black scientists who have made a difference. Teach them to question things around them for the purpose of learning. Teach them how to deal with negative peer pressure which turns them away from learning. Finally, offer your child interesting alternatives to television. Get them to exercise their minds whereever possible. Playing games, solving problems, debating issues are very useful.

 

There are many Benjamin Bannekas, Charles Drews, and ... simply waiting to be discovered. The ball is in our court. What's the next move? Is it y = x2 ?!

 

Harvey H. Millar Ph.D. is a founding member of the African Canadian Education Project and a Professor in the Faculty of Commerce at Saint Mary's University.

 

  Back to Articles