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INTRODUCTION
(9/01)
As a young environmental and political activist in Australia in the 1970s I was
involved in a wide range of actions--from working with trade unionists to
oppose the construction of an inner city power plant through campaigning
against excess packaging to establishing a natural foods co-operative.
However, when someone asked me: "If you could wish for one thing to be changed
when you wake up tomorrow, what would it be?" my answer was not a concrete
political success or environmental improvement. I replied simply: "I would
want everyone to question," by which I meant not to be merely sceptical, but to
consider alternatives to accepted views and practices. This interest in
critical thinking evolved in ways that led, many years later, to my appointment
in the fall of 1998 to the second full-time faculty position in the Program in
Critical and Creative Thinking (CCT) in the Graduate College of Education
(GCOE) at UMass Boston (UMB).
When I look back at the path from Australia in the 1970s to CCT, I see that I
was also moving in the direction of creative thinking. Where, we can ask, do a
critical thinker's ideas about alternatives come from? Not out of individual
inspiration, but from borrowing and connecting. The more items in your tool
box--the more themes, heuristics (rules of thumb), and open questions you are
working with--the more likely you are to make a new connection and see how
things could be otherwise, that is, to be creative. Yet, in order to build up
a set of tools that works for you, it is necessary to experiment, take risks,
and reflect on the outcomes. Or--to use my current metaphor for critical and
creative thinking--you have to journey into unfamiliar or unknown areas.
This kind of journey involves risk, opens up questions, creates more
experiences than can be integrated at first sight, requires support, and yields
personal change.
This picture of critical and creative thinking makes a virtue of my chewing on
many questions, exploring alternative practices, and accumulating diverse
tools; of my relying less than many of my peers on established intellectual
positions and institutional arrangements; and of my not following
well-intentioned advice to get established in one field and use that as a base
to seek a wider impact. My continued journeying has prepared me to present
myself as a "work in progress" as I support others, following CCT's motto, to
"develop reflective practice and change their schools, workplaces, and
lives."
* * *
My research career started in Australia in ecology and agriculture, areas I was
drawn to by my environmental and political activism. In 1980 I came to the
United States for doctoral studies in ecology and evolution. During these last
two decades my research and teaching have developed at intersections of the
life and environmental sciences with the different disciplines that make up
social studies of science and technology (STS)--history, philosophy, sociology,
and politics of science. My dual position--as a scientist and interpreter of
science--has helped me to steer clear of the not-so-helpful dichotomies of
"Science as Truth" vs. "Science as a Reflection of Society." Instead I have
examined specifically how the varied practical considerations faced by
scientists translate into the particular ways they know the world and pursue
their scientific work. Whether in my science-STS classes or in research
workshops with practicing scientists, my goal has been to stimulate people to
interpret their particular social context in ways that further their own
projects as learners, researchers, and social agents.
As I explored how to stimulate science students and scientists to consider the
ways science takes shape within particular social contexts, I came to see that
critical thinking and reflective practice were central to my intellectual and
professional project. By this I mean that I lead students and scientists to
contrast the paths taken in science, society, learning, and people's lives with
other paths that might be taken. And I encourage them to bring the insights
gained into their future studies and research. When I came across the
announcement of a position in CCT with a speciality in "critical thinking in
science and technology education," it looked like a wonderful opportunity to
develop the project of bringing critical analysis to bear on the practice and
applications of science. The context of teaching and working with a wide range
of educators and other mid-career professionals would be conducive to
addressing several new challenges:
modeling reflective practice and make that compelling for science and STS
audiences;
presenting my specialty--scientific inquiry in its social context or
"science-STS"--in ways that engage students and citizens in understanding
science, especially in environmental studies (ES); and
extending this work and building support through teaching and collaborating
with educators--including my GCOE and other UMB colleagues.
In particular, I identified two new directions in my science-STS work:
where before I had been teaching college students, I would work more with
educators from K through college levels, and
where the workshops I had led were with researchers who were already
reflective, I would seek to address a wider group of scientists and citizens,
especially those involved in debates about the social impact of science and in
community-based research.
As it has turned out, my progress in these directions has been moderated by
teaching and administrative responsibilities I assumed with the ill-health and
extended medical leave since 1999 of the Program Director, Delores Gallo, the
other core CCT faculty member in GCOE. Yet as some compensation for teaching
less in my science-STS specialty area, more general CCT courses have given me
the opportunity to develop skills in facilitating reflective practice. This
has spilled over into my own practice--after all, if I want critical analysis
to influence the process and applications of scientific research, institutional
and personal change is needed, not only intellectual argument. As I knew from
previous experience, my science-STS work would require new activities,
directions, and collaborations within and around CCT, as well as collegial
interactions across programs and disciplines. Moreover, not all of these
initiatives could be expected to mature within the three years before tenure
review. I certainly hoped that the institutional expectations for CCT and my
work would be more settled than they have become during the 16 months since my
receiving my positive 4th. year review. Yet, as with other challenges in
institutional development, I have persisted in seeking ways to respond
constructively and take initiative.
In this spirit, my statement and accompanying materials convey not only my
accomplishments, but also the ongoing self-assessment and development of
research, teaching, and institutional development. The cross-fertilization
among those three aspects of my work, which together I consider to be my
scholarship, is also significant. Taken as a whole, this should give reviewers
confidence that I will continue to be productive and innovative as a
researcher, teacher, and colleague.
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