It should be our goal to encourage lifelong scientific literacy through establishing values and attitudes early and providing long term support. Polar education should be an integral part of K-12 schooling, higher education, and a recognized presence in informal venues. Education about the poles should have a strong presence at all three levels of focus:
• Locally with Arctic residents meaningfully engaged in developing and implementing polar research and education that addresses community concerns and traditional knowledge
• Nationally with US citizens informed and knowledgeable about polar research questions, findings, and significant policy issues
• Internationally with US institutions and initiatives at the forefront of collaboration in international research, education, and outreach relating to the Arctic and Antarctic.
Umbrella Organizations/Association
Polar Outreach/Education Overview - (Topkok)
We should embrace the "Stone Soup" approach, where everyone contributes and this summation of the different contributions enhances the whole, we need to build on existing programs and networks to build supportive partnerships (a learning community) between - northern people_scientists_ educators_ media.
• A part of this community building process is to focus on promoting diversity through natives, minorities, women, elders, and youth
• Add or increase the presence of native people as instructors at universities around the globe to improve educational exchange moving both directions.
Polar Organizations/Institutions
Incorporate modern technologies - (Tweedie)
Innovative teaching methods to enhance interaction among scientists, students, and educators.
• Establish databases of polar projects identifying gaps in knowledge
• Shock/immersion teaching or saturated learning
• Focus on wildly contrasting experiences and environments to the norm – compare and contrast
• Use cyber-infrastructures - interactive GIS (http://ims.arcticscience.org and Circumarctic Environmental Observatories Network http://ceonims.org)
• Outer Pole experiences – cultural and educational exchanges between poles and elsewhere
Humanize polar researchers – (Kolb, Beitler, Vogel)
Give the Poles a face and image - interpersonal connections are crucial to engaging the wider community.
• Polar researchers have an obligation to share their story and adventure in order to both inspire and educate others. Direct communication between researchers and scientists in the field and students in classrooms will generate public interest in the Poles.
• Focus on human aspects of research in the poles
• To reach the broadest audience, include staff and technicians as well as scientists
• Use various approaches - emails to online journals to videos to lectures
• Embed scientists – bring scientists into the community for a year to better understand the cultural life, and build better community acceptance. Early adventurers, like Perry and Henson actually resided in the community. This sets up opportunity for exchange in both directions, a promising potential to enhance diversity.
• Profiles of polar scientists and researchers (field and office) – modern day versus historical differences.
• Wonderwise: (videos and associated activities highlighting women researchers)
• Stories on polar life
Resource Links:
Renowned Individuals
Personal WebPages or Recommendations of Workshop Participants (not included in previous listings)
Personal WebPages or Recommendations from Non-Workshop Contributors
Use the systems approach to learning – (Beitler, Holmes, Rudolph, Vogel)
Emphasizing cross-disciplinary views of the polar sciences will assist in connecting the poles to a wider group of researchers and educators. Additionally it will increase awareness of poles and their role in the Earth system.
• Focus on Arctic as big multinational and multicultural area – think pan-Arctic and multi national - from scientific questions, to sociological to cultural.
• Offer professional development, ranging from workshops to conferences for teachers to provide them support in systems education on the poles
• More cross-disciplinary interaction and resource sharing
• Require PhD candidates to spend 6 months to a year at a foreign university and perhaps incorporate an international research perspective into their analysis
• Integrated, collaborative methodology to regularly monitor knowledge and respond quickly to change
General Resources/Databases
Educate our scientists and our government (Mahootian, Erickson, Kelley, Duffy, Sajor)
The effect that political decisions have on environmental consequences must be constantly emphasized through increased effort to offer higher education courses and degrees in science and policy. Scientists must connect themselves to the media and communities so that the government is regularly reminded of the impact of changes in the environment.
• Scientists should be educated to make better economic and political choices, not only to be good scientists.
• Through polar science, the science community can better understand the past terrestrial changes.
• SENCER – Science Education for New Civic Engagements and Responsibilities – exploring science and policy interface in the Arctic through interdisciplinary inquiry and student involvement in monitoring and assessment, e.g. the nuclear legacy
• Protection of the poles from exploitation and too much interest/traffic needs to be addressed
• Antarctica remains common patrimony of humanity
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