Implementing Stealth Education in the Geosciences
James F. Howard, Ph.D., CPG-2536
As described in my first article of this series published in the
Apr.May.Jun 2021 issue of TPG, Stealth Education is defined as the insertion of aspects of the geosciences into topics normally considered as non-geoscience related by emphasiz- ing their role as causative or influential elements in human physical or cultural development or interaction.
As discussed in the first editorial, most of the resources of the professional societies involved in promoting the Geosciences have concentrated their efforts into two major areas:
1. Providing secondary school teachers with better mate- rials to support their efforts to educate their students; and
2. Expanding the skill set of existing geoscientists to more effectively accomplish their career objectives in the facet of the industry in which they have obtained employment.
The Stealth Education approach is intended to increase overall awareness, especially to decision-makers, on the breadth of influence exerted by the geosciences on virtually every aspect of human culture. These aspects are active today and have served as influential elements in the historical development of society as we know it.
The primary target of the Stealth Education approach is the general public whose representatives control, through the vote, the processes of national and local policy and, in particu- lar, primary and secondary school curriculum development.
A major problem in implementing a Stealth Education pro- gram is inherent with geoscientists. As with all scientific and technical disciplines, geoscientists tend to spend most of their time talking to each other. This, of course, tends to restrict interaction with other technical groups that are not directly associated with their background or their chosen career path.
A major goal of the Stealth Education program is increasing the awareness and appreciation of the value of the geosciences in other disciplines and interest groups. In order to achieve that goal, our professional organizations should expand and diver- sify their educational programs. Engagement of the public and decision-makers would involve the development of webinars, seminars and other programs that would be attractive to the general public, providing information and viewpoints on con- troversial aspects of modern society such as climate change, alternate energy sources versus conventional sources, mineral resource availability and projections of future needs, etc.
www.aipg.org
A second major goal of the program will be to encourage indi- viduals within our professional organizations to utilize their collateral interests outside our traditional areas of activity, engaging the general public in discussions that would allow the introduction of geoscience background into their fields of interest or career groups.
Stealth Education encourages geoscience professionals to utilize their personal interests (history, hunting, warfare, ship building, fishing, travel, etc.), as entrees into groups or settings which allow them to add geoscience background into other disciplines and emphasize the influence of the geosci- ences as causative or influential elements in the history or development of the topic.
The technique is especially applicable to mineral resources, travel, ancient history, modern history, military science, human migration and societal development, empire develop- ment and decline, anthropology, archaeology, national parks development, environmental hazards, sea level changes, effects of glaciation, landform development, physiographic development, etc. Some topics are more conducive to the
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Stealth Education encourages geoscience professionals to utilize their personal interests (history, hunting, warfare, ship building, fishing, travel, etc.), as entrees into groups or set- tings which allow them to add geoscience background into other disciplines and emphasize the influence of the geosciences as causative or influential ele- ments in the history or develop- ment of the topic.
Jul.Aug.Sep 2021 • TPG 41
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