• Aucun résultat trouvé

TEACHING SCIENCE IN A DEVELOPING COUNTRY : THE ITALO-CUBAN EXPERIENCE

N/A
N/A
Protected

Academic year: 2021

Partager "TEACHING SCIENCE IN A DEVELOPING COUNTRY : THE ITALO-CUBAN EXPERIENCE"

Copied!
4
0
0

Texte intégral

(1)

HAL Id: jpa-00215244

https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/jpa-00215244

Submitted on 1 Jan 1973

HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access archive for the deposit and dissemination of sci- entific research documents, whether they are pub- lished or not. The documents may come from teaching and research institutions in France or abroad, or from public or private research centers.

L’archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est destinée au dépôt et à la diffusion de documents scientifiques de niveau recherche, publiés ou non, émanant des établissements d’enseignement et de recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires publics ou privés.

TEACHING SCIENCE IN A DEVELOPING COUNTRY : THE ITALO-CUBAN EXPERIENCE

Elena Palmieri

To cite this version:

Elena Palmieri. TEACHING SCIENCE IN A DEVELOPING COUNTRY : THE ITALO- CUBAN EXPERIENCE. Journal de Physique Colloques, 1973, 34 (C1), pp.C1-453-C1-455.

�10.1051/jphyscol:1973164�. �jpa-00215244�

(2)

TEACHING SCIENCE IN A DEVELOPING COUNTRY

TEACHING SCIENCE IN A DEVELOPING COUNTRY: THE ITALO-CUBAN EXPERIENCE

Elena SASS1 PALMIER1

Istituto di Fisica dell' Universitl, Napoli

I want to report on an experiment carried out in Cuba by a group of Italian physicists and which lasted for more than two years (1970-1972). We worked on projects for teaching physics in secondary schools - a matter related to the subject of this session if we agree on a rather wide definition of popularisation.

As you know, after the revolution a tremendous effort to solve educational problems was undertaken in Cuba. To begin, a nation-wide campaign against illiteracy was launched in 1961. Most students and many other people spread out all over Cuba and taught illiterate people in temporary classes. The campaign was successful in eliminating illiteracy almost completely and set the basis for future cultural development; it also had a huge impact on the edu- cational system, in particular by stirring an active interest in students and young teachers concerning the further development of teaching methods in the Cuban schools.

At the end of 1969 we became aware of a specific interest in Cuba to discuss the new teaching methods and projects which were being introduced in Europe and the U.S.A. Because we were strongly interested in what was going on in Cuba, we decided to propose a programme to Cuban officials for a collaborative effort on teaching projects for physics.

Since most of us had much experience in teaching physics in the Italian universities, our first idea was to discuss methods related to Introductory Univer- sity Physics, but soon our Cuban friends convinced us that their most urgent problems were at the secondary school level. To give you an illustration of this point, I can quote some approximate figures. In 1969-1970, out of a population of 8,500,000 , there

were 1,600,000 pupils in the primary school, while the secondary schools were attended by 700,000 and 40,000 students studied in the Cuban universities.

Cuba then started the decade (1970-1980) dedicated to

educational problems. By 1975, 7,000 new primary school teachers and 5,800 new secondary school teachers will have been trained.

We then worked out a programme essentially centred on physics projects for secondary schools. We intended to critically study, in a collaborative effort together with Cuba teachers, the available new methods and textbooks in order to prepare the basis for autono- mous teaching experiments in some Cuban schools. A well prepared and carefully conducted experimental stage, subject to continuous critical analysis, was felt to be a necessary first step towards developing a valid Cuban project scheme, which should take into account the specific problems and needs of modern Cuba.

During our work we were constantly aware of the dangers of simply transplanting, or slightly adapting, a teaching project born and developed in highly industrialized countries, to a developing country like Cuba: this would have been an act of cultural colonialism. Hence, while advanced techniques im- ported from abroad must obviously be used, and sugges- tions drawn from experimentation in other countries are beneficial, only an autonomous research ipto teaching methods will finally lead to project and textbooks suited to Cuban schools.

Our work has been centered on two summer courses:

in 1970 (3rd August - 11th September) the 1st Summer Course on physics teaching projects was held at La Habana University; in 1971 (3rd August -

2nd September) the IInd Summer Course on the same subject took place. About 10 Italian physicists took part in this work. The total budget amounted to some 6,000 dollars, spent on textbooks, laboratory kits and subsidiary material. Most of the funds came from friends and colleagues interested in our programme.

There have been contributions from the Instituto Italo Latino Americana and the Cuban Embassy. The

Article published online by EDP Sciences and available at http://dx.doi.org/10.1051/jphyscol:1973164

(3)

1970 Physics Course was a t t e n d e d by around 30 Cubans, coming from d i f f e r e n t s c h o o l s and o r g a n i z a t i o n s . We d i s c u s s e d t h e main f e a t u r e s of N u f f i e l d , PSSC and Harvard P r o j e c t s , d e v o t i n g a s h o r t time t o t h e Berkeley Physics Course and t h e Feynman LecGures on P h y s i c s . As f a r a s t h e l a b o r a t o r y a c t i v i t y was con- cerned, we worked w i t h t h e complete PSSC equipment and some of t h e N u f f i e l d k i t s . Also f i l m s from PSSC, Harvard and UNESCO s e t s were shown and d i s c u s s e d . P a r t i c u l a r a t t e n t i o n was p a i d t o t h e problem of r e - producing t h e l a b o r a t o r y k i t s . As you may know, some of t h e most s i g n i f i c a n t k i t s b o t h f o r PSSC and Nuf- f i e l d P r o j e c t s a r e simple and can be reproduced with- o u t g r e a t d i f f i c u l t y . I n a d d i t i o n t o t h e c o u r s e work, t h e r e have been s e v e r a l e x t r a a c t i v i t i e s : -

a ) v i s i t s t o secondary s c h o o l s and a day's p a r t i - c i p a t i o n i n c l a s s work

b) meetings w i t h people r e s p o n s i b l e f o r t e l e v i s i o n p h y s i c s t e a c h i n g programmes and w i t h t h o s e r e s p o n s i b l e f o r new p h y s i c s textbooks.

Moreover, one person i n t h e group devoted h i s time t o c o n t a c t i n g people i n charge of programming b i o l o g y and chemistry c o u r s e s . The importance of s i m i l a r work on t h i s s u b j e c t soon became e v i d e n t . A c t u a l l y i n 1971, i n p a r a l l e l w i t h our I I n d Physics Course, t h e 1 s t Summer Course on b i o l o g y p r o j e c t s f o r secon- d a r y s c h o o l s was h e l d a t La Habana. The people i n - volved i n t h i s work were e s s e n t i a l l y from Bologna.

There was c l o s e c o l i a b o r a t i o n between t h e b i o l o g y and p b y s i c s groups and a l l b a s i c d e c i s i o n s were t a k e n t o g e t h e r .

When back i n I t a l y (Autumn 1970) we wrote a d e t a i - l e d r e p o r t on t h e work done d u r i n g t h e c o u r s e and p r e s e n t e d some p r o p o s a l s f o r f u t u r e c o l l a b o r a t i o n The main p o i n t s were: a ) t h e s u g g e s t i o n of developing t h e "study groups" born d u r i n g t h e 1970 c o u r s e , g i v i n g them t h e p o s s i b i l i t y of running p i l o t experiments i n some c l a s s e s . This programme was o b v i o u s l y r e l a t e d t o t h e r e p r o d u c t i o n of l a b o r a t o r y k i t s ; and b ) t o o r g a n i z e a I I n d Course on P h y s i c s P r o j e c t s , f o r a l a r g e number of p a r t i c i p a n t s ( - 100 t e a c h e r s from secondary s c h o o l s ) , e n l a r g i n g t h e r 8 1 e of l a b o r a t o r y work.

These p r o p o s a l s were accepted and i n summer 1971 we worked f o r t h e second time t o g e t h e r w i t h Cuban

t e a c h e r s .

Most of t h e fundamental i d e a s and methods of I n t r o - d u c t o r y Physics were d i s c u s s e d , w i t h s t r o n g emphasis

on l a b o r a t o r y work and phenomenological a n a l y s i s . The l a b o r a t o r y work was c a r r i e d o u t i n such a way a s t o c l a r i f y t h e methods of p h y s i c s r e s e a r c h , a t secon- d a r y school l e v e l . The l a b o r a t o r y m a t e r i a l c o n s i s t e d of 15 complete PSSC k i t s , some k i t s from t h e N u f f i e l d P r o j e c t s and some k i t s prepared by o u r s e l v e s (essen- t i a l l y e l e c t r i c c i r c u i t s ) . We a l s o used some PSSC m a t e r i a l reproduced i n Cuba. The t i m e schedule was such t h a t s m a l l groups ( - 5 people) worked i n t h e morning i n t h e Zaboratory, w h i l e a f t e r lunch every- body joined t o d i s c u s s t h e r e s u l t s o b t a i n e d . This d i s c u s s i o n was followed by a g e n e r a l l e c t u r e which i n s e r t e d t h e work done i n t h e morning i n t o a wider frame. This was g e n e r a l l y done by a n a l y s i n g t h e methods used i n t h e l a b o r a t o r y , s t r e s s i n g c o n t i n u o u s l y

t h e t e a c h i n g a s p e c t s . We had d e l i b e r a t e l y scheduled t h e l a b o r a t o r y work b e f o r e t h e d i s c u s s i o n and t h e l e c t u r e , because we wanted t o break w i t h t h e t r a d i - t i o n a l t e a c h i n g r o u t i n e , widely followed i n Cuba, a c c o r d i n g t o which t h e l a b o r a t o r y work ( i f any) i s t h e r e t o " v e r i f y " s c i e n t i f i c laws i n t r o d u c e d more o r l e s s dogmatically by t h e t e a c h e r . The l a b o r a t o r y work was meant t o s t r e s s t h a t measurements a r e a n e s s e n t i a l s t e p towards t h e u n d e r s t a n d i n g of p h y s i c a l phenomena and t h a t t h e c r i t i c a l a n a l y s i s of e x p e r i - mental r e s u l t s i s much r i c h e r than t h e mere q u o t a t i o n of laws.

One of o u r main problems was t o f i n d a r e f e r e n c e textbook which would n o t d i f f e r t o o much from t h e l i n e which was chosen f o r t h e c o u r s e . We adopted t h e PSSC p r o j e c t because a Cuban e d i t i o n of t h e textbook was a l r e a d y a v a i l a b l e , and because we could u s e cheap PSSC l a b . k i t s of good q u a l i t y which were produced by an I t a l i a n f i r m f o r t h e I t a l i a n market.

We had n e v e r t h e l e s s s t r o n g r e s e r v e s r e g a r d i n g b o t h t h e c o n t e n t and t h e aim of t h e PSSC p r o j e c t , and i t s u s e f u l n e s s f o r Cuban s c h o o l s . I n t h i s c o n n e c t i o n , I w i l l mention two p o i n t s , which were e x t e n s i v e l y d i s c u s s e d d u r i n g t h e c o u r s e .

F i r s t l y , gin t h e PSSC s u b j e c t s such a s mechanics of f l u i d s , thermology, a l t e r n a t e c u r r e n t s , and e l e c t r i c c i r c u i t s a r e n o t covered. This i s c e r t a i n l y a n e g a t i v e f e a t u r e i n a developing c o u n t r y l i k e Cuba, where t h e problems r e l a t e d t o p r o d u c t i o n p r o c e s s e s a r e overwhelming.

SPcondly, we could n o t a g r e e w i t h t h e philosophy u n d e r l y i n g t h e p r o j e c t . As you know, t h e PSSC i s e s s e n t i a l l y meant f o r s t u d e n t s who w i l l go t o

(4)

TEACHING SCIENCE I N A DEVELOPING COUNTRY C1-455

u n i v e r s i t y and who have t o reach a s q u i c k l y as p o s s i - b l e t h e most advanced t o p i c s . I n our o p i n i o n , one of i t s main pruposes i s i n f a c t t o breed a reduced number of s c i e n t i s t s who w i l l form t h e p r i v i l e g e d e l i t e of " e x p l o r e r s of nature". Statements r e f l e c t i n g a c e r t a i n modern mythology of s c i e n c e can be found throughout t h e t e x t , i n p a r t i c u l a r i n t h e I n t r o d u c t i o n ; even worse, t h e r e a r e f a l s e s t a t e m e n t s about t h e

" n e u t r a l and pure" g o a l s of s c i e n t i f i c r e s e a r c h . Quoting from t h e PSSC 3rd e d i t i o n (D.C. Heath and Co., Lexington, Mass., 1971, page 3 ) : "(Physics) i s l i k e a g r e a t b u i l d i n g under c o n s t r u c t i o n , n o t a f i n i s h e d s t r u c t u r e around which you have o n l y t o t a k e a guided t o u r

...

New p a r t s w i l l be s t a r t e d and

completed by men and women of your g e n e r a t i o n , p o s s i b l y by you o r your classmate".

The 1971 course had some 75 p a r t i c i p a n t s , coming from a l l Cuban provinces. Our work went on i n a very s t i m u l a t i n g atmosphere. One s i g n i f i c a n t and p o s i t i v e outcome of t h e c o u r s e has been t h e spon- taneous formation of twelve "groups of i n t e r e s t " . These groups were composed of t e a c h e r s from t h e same a r e a , o r even t h e same s c h o o l . T h e i r aim was t o pur- sue f u r t h e r t h e work on t h e problems d i s c u s s e d i n t h e c c u r s e , by undertaking i f p o s s i b l e p r a c t i c a l t e s t s i n t h e i r c l a s s e s . This o b v i o u s l y implied b e i n g a b l e t o s o l v e t h e problem of reproducing l a b . k i t s on a s m a l l s c a l e .

On t h e b a s i s of our e x p e r i e n c e i n Cuba, and j o i n t l y w i t h t h e b i o l o g i s t s ' group, we wrote a r e p o r t on t h e work done i n 1971, which included s h o r t and long range p r o p o s a l s f o r f u t u r e c o l l a b o r a t i o n (Cursos d e verano s o b r e l a enseiianza de l a b i o l o g i a y de l a f i s i c a , La Habana, 1971). Some of t h e s e were r e l a t e d t o t h e a c t i v i t y of t h e "groups of i n t e r e s t " . We proposed t o cooperate w i t h them i n view of o r g a n i z i n g p i l o t experiments run by t h e s e groups i n t h e i r own c l a s s e s . We suggested u s i n g p r o v i s i o n a l l y t h e l a b o r a t o r y

m a t e r i a l l e f t i n Cuba, and t o a t t e m p t t o s o l v e t h e r e p r o d u c t i o n problem.in t h e meantime. We a l s o proposed t o o r g a n i z e a summer c o u r s e where t h e s e groups, which a r e l o c a t e d i n a l l Cuban p r o v i n c e s , could come t o g e t h e r and c o n f r o n t and c r i t i c a l l y a n a l y s e , t h e r e s u l t s obtained i n t h e d i f f e r e n t p i l o t c l a s s e s .

Other p r o p o s a l s d e a l t w i t h t h e d i r e c t p a r t i c i p a t i o n of some of u s i n s p e c i a l courses a l r e a d y programmed i n Cuba, o r i n a complete t e a c h i n g experiment.

We had decided t o p r e s e n t a spectrum of d i f f e r e n t p r o p o s a l s r a t h e r t h a n a unique programme, because i t was c l e a r t o us t h a t t h a t t h e f i r s t phase of our c o l l a b o r a t i o n was, i n a c e r t a i n way, a l r e a d y concluded.

During t h e f i r s t and t h e second c o u r s e , we had d i s - cussed almost a l l t h e i n f o r m a t i o n and i d e a s which we considered a s r e l e v a n t . Organizing y e t a n o t h e r c o u r s e s i m i l a r t o t h e I I n d c o u r s e h e l d i n 1971 would have been almost a r e p e t i t i o n of work a l r e a d y done.

We a r e convinced t h a t i t i s now up t o t h e Cubans t o make t h e d e c i s i o n s . Because t h e time i n t e r v a l between p r o p o s a l s of t h i s s o r t and d e c i s i o n s i s n o t s h o r t , I do n o t know now what w i l l happen. I f t h e Cuban o f f i c i a l s a c c e p t some of o u r p r o p o s a l s , o r s u g g e s t a d i f f e r e n t t y p e of c o o p e r a t i o n , o u r c o l l a - b o r a t i v e work w i l l e n t e r a second phase.

To conclude, I want t o e x p r e s s a p e r s o n a l o p i n i o n about t h i s e x p e r i e n c e . It has been r e a l l y p o s i t i v e . We attempted t o s t a r t a p r o c e s s of p o p u l a r i z i n g a c r i t i c a l approach t o p h y s i c s i n secondary s c h o o l s . Many p o s i t i v e r e s u l t s a r e due t o t h e p a r t i c u l a r s i t u a t i o n of p o s t - r e v o l u t i o n Cuba. To quote only one of them, I must s a y t h a t t h e problem of a d a p t i n g a t e a c h i n g p r o j e c t t o c o u n t r i e s d i f f e r e n t from t h e one where i t o r i g i n a t e d has been matured and f u l l y understood by u s , and t r a n s p o s e d from ideology t o r e a l l i f e , only thanks t o our a c t u a l e x p e r i e n c e i n Cuba.

Références

Documents relatifs

Therefore, in order to ground the concept of semantic imagination in face of the traditional con- ception of semantics, we must show that imagination operates at the semantic level

Recently, a large community of physicists and science of education researchers have used new technological tools to reimagine this teaching, developing simulations, remote

Although a growing body of literature has emerged exploring the adoption of a social justice approach to education, there is currently a lack of research addressing the question

This paper outlines the importance of using Augmented Reality (AR) in physics education at the university as a valuable tool for visualization and increasing the attention

Based on training data sample and 194 categories, the algorithm of automat- ic classification was trained using such classical methods of machine learning as naive

The international community defines education as one of the main global priorities, the main driving force of people’s empowerment [1]. The goals of the National Strategy of Ukraine

Laboratory workshop with using computer models of physical processes facilitates the formation of such an important component of research skills among students as

Problem Based learning [1][2][3][6] is used currently as a technique of active learning in which students determine by themselves their learning environment: information,