Tricks In The Trade – From Pseudoscience To Surviving Research Trips

On the chosen theme for Scientiae Carnival for October.

Last Friday I watched my former students (from my form class, a kind of quasi-pastoral care program involving being with a group of students since Year 8 ) graduate from their final year of high-school. Out of the fourteen, there were saw thirteen graduands from that form. Although I have a rather skeptical view of the notion of luck, I think I’m fortunate to have seen that many get so far. For many, it’s difficult to survive up to the final years of secondary schooling.

As I type this – I’m sitting at an airline kiosk before boarding yet another flight to a remote part of the state. Flying in order to ask questions very much related to why only thirteen rather than fourteen of my students graduated. What factors led them to drop out, or be disengaged from the process of education? We’ve nearly reached the magic number of 200 in total and this will be the last plane journey for my year. It’s been a long journey, in many ways, and there’s still more to happen.


This week, thanks to the links by Translucent Science bloggers, I was told of a response on the official site of the UK Prime Minister (http://www.number10.gov.uk), publishes a response to a petition created by over two-thousand pro-Dore parents, which followed on from their original efforts, stating that:

‘the Government does not accredit particular approaches to tackling learning difficulties…however, the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) has recently asked Sir Jim Rose to make recommendations on the identification and teaching of children with dyslexia (some of whom also experience difficulties associated with dyspraxia). As part of developing his recommendations, Sir Jim will look at the methodologies which underpin approaches to overcoming dyslexia, including the DORE Programme.’

Would any of my students one day face a similar situation – as young parents with faith in a program that has significant doubts about its efficacy? Or maybe even as ministers in power, trying their best to find the best solution to help others without promoting doubtful ‘cures’ for illiteracy, dyslexia or even autism and Down’s Syndrome? I know that the hydra-head of ‘MyDore’ entourage and their promotion of has begun making moves again, something that the Translucent Science bloggers will indeed be reporting upon, very soon…

My last flight home was from the Australian Skeptics National conference in Adelaide, where I was very proud to see Margaret Kittson talk about one particular aspect of pseudoscience in education – Brain Gym. She mentioned me in her speech and it was a little difficult not to jump up and shout ‘you go grrl!!’ at what would have been a most inappropriate moment… but when it comes to issues involving the infiltration of hundreds of schools, despite the well-meaning questioning of only one stakeholder (a teacher)… well, someone has to keep speaking out – as Ben Goldacre wrote on the matter in the Guardian (quoted by Margaret in her presentation):

But this nonsense must all be some teeny, peripheral act of madness by a few schools, surely? No. Many hundreds of UK state schools, at least. So many I couldn’t name them all in a month of columns. So many, I’ve posted a list on www.badscience.net, so you can check your child is safe.

Because telling stories about fairies and monsters is fine, but lying to children about science is wrong. Children are predisposed to learn about the world from adults, and especially from teachers. Children listen to what you tell them: that’s the point of being a child, that’s the reason why you don’t come out fully-formed, speaking English with a favourite album.

So, the fight goes on. The research goes on. I hope it’s the same for my former students: that they find something passionate enough to fight for.

Today, I sit here in a half-renovated airport terminal (I am actually sitting next to a rather dubious-looking paintbucket, some bollards and a ring of barrier tape – don’t believe me? Check the photo taken by my phone I’ve put at the top of this blogpost!), wondering if any of the graduates I saw will remember any of the passing comments I made about being skeptical about claims regarding ‘easy solutions’ in education.

In the meantime, I guess the best tips I have for the moment are:

• Wear a large, soft headband to use as an additional eye-mask on a long trip (also as back-up eyemask if you lose yours);
• Keep additional earplugs in different places in your bag, just in case;
• Wear comfortable shoes that can slip off easily in case of security checks (just came from another one, a lovey lady who checked me for explosives!);
• Wear a nice shirt to help facilitate conversation about shirts whilst you’re being checked for explosives (As my friends know, I personally favour the Etchi range - local artist, Australian and range of men’s sizes which are very comfy when you’re traveling – yes, that’s ‘bunny-catcher’ in the pic, a fave);
  
• Take with you something you know you’ll be engrossed with – I’ve got Goldacre’s ‘Bad Science‘ and Thompson’s ‘Counterknowledge: How We Surrendered to Conspiracy Theories, Quack Medicine, Bogus Science and Fake History‘ … as well as some trashy time-passer like ‘How to Lose Friends and Alienate People‘ by Toby Young… eh, I’ve always enjoyed reading behind-the-scenes of mags like Vanity Fair…
  
• Always, always, have multiple backups of your presentation or work; have a free email addy like Gmail that you use exclusively to email backups of your papers and powerpoints that you can access if needed and carry at least two pen-drives in two different places in your hand luggage and an additional copy burnt onto a disk that slips into your checked-in luggage.
• Find an airport internet kiosk and feel like you did something productive during your wait time… bon voyage, et al.
  

Tagged as: airline tips, airtravel, Australian fashion, Bad Science, Ben Goldacre, book recommendations, braingym, Counterknowledge, DORE, Dore bloggers, dyslexia, dyspraxia, Education, Etchi, How to Lose Friends and Alienate People, Margaret Kitson, Parenting, Perth, Pseudoscience, scepticism, schooling, scientiae-carnival, Skepticism, surf shirt, Thompspon