Lesley College, a women's undergraduate college, proposes to develop a program for preparing preservice middle school science and mathematics teachers that is founded on the belief that the best middle school teacher combines expertise in her subject area with strong pedagogical and diagnostic skills. Following the recommendation of the National Middle School Association, the program will provide content concentration in two areas, science and mathematics. The project will design a sequence of 40 credits in mathematics and science, including nine with a unique interdisciplinary focus. In all, five science courses, five mathematics courses, three interdisciplinary content courses, and five professional courses will be developed or modified. The interdisciplinary component will make explicit the implied interrelations between mathematics, science, society, and the teaching profession. The emphasis will be on methods of inquiry, criteria for truth in different disciplines, and an understanding of the nature and limits of knowledge. The interdisciplinary component will culminate with a student research project in the natural sciences that calls for the use of scientific and behavioral science methods. The 29-hour professional education component will culminate in an integrating seminar which will challenge students to create new visions and alternatives for curriculum development and education. The program will be developed by teams of scientists and educators. The project will take advantage of collaborative relations with the public schools and a science laboratory resource center at the college. The project will also develop strategies for recruiting talented women into the middle school teaching profession. The entire project will be carefully evaluated through the Program Evaluation and Research Group at Lesley College; information about the program and its efforts will be widely disseminated.
