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Students have to overcome fear of math and science
The Ottawa Citizen
Published: Wednesday, December 05, 2007The latest scores show that Canadians are doing well at teaching our children science -- yet at the same time we might also be teaching them something harder to measure: Fear and self-doubt.
How else to account for the odd fact that despite the ability of young Canadians to do science, few of them are following up on that talent in university? According to recent statistics from the Organization of Economic Co-operation and Development, Canada's number of science graduates is below the average among developed countries.
This matters, and for far more than bragging rights. The information economy is fuelled by creative thinking. If we don't allow our young people to become innovators, Canada's economy will fall behind. If we don't want to end up competing with the rest of the world for engineers and doctors, we have to keep producing them here.
Canadian children are learning science and math, but they aren't pursuing careers that make use of their knowledge.
As a resource economy, Canada especially needs to spur invention and innovation, because some day our resources will run out. The problem, however, isn't with the minds of our children -- the OECD has found that Canadian 15-year-olds recently ranked third on an international test of scientific ability. Out of 57 jurisdictions, only Finland and Hong Kong outscored us.
This is a major improvement over our 11th-place finish in 2003. Canadians are also doing well in other fields: This month, the results of an international reading study compared students in 40 countries and found that Canada's Grade 4 students were among the best in overall reading ability.
These are reassuring statistics, not only for what they say about our children, but for what they say about their teachers. We don't necessarily need a major, expensive reform of Canada's education systems.
The good news could also be a reflection of changing attitudes among parents. They might not be able to spend as much time as they'd like helping with homework around the kitchen table, but they're still doing their best to help their children learn.
One way they're doing that is by hiring private help: The Canadian Council on Learning reports that more Canadians are using tutors, and not only for children who are having real difficulty.
Young Canadians might still have trouble identifying the significance of Vimy Ridge, but on standardized tests, at least, they're doing well.
The problem we face, then, isn't academic, but cultural. Young Canadians, particularly young female Canadians, learn to dread calculus. If they can arrange their post-secondary applications to avoid taking it, they will. They don't even know what it is, but they're sure they won't like it.
In first-year university, students in the social sciences pray they won't have to do any math in their economics courses.
The ubiquitous message that math and science are too hard prevents many students from reaching the point in their studies where all those equations start to make sense and even take on a kind of beauty.
Adults must get over their own insecurities and encourage young people to pursue careers in science and technology. If we don't start thinking of Canada as an innovative place, it's unlikely anyone else will.
