Intervista a Richard T. White

In this interview Professor Richard White, Faculty of Education, Monash University, gives some suggestions on the conditions that help teachers to do their work effectively. White discusses the meaning of laboratory work and the links between the laboratory and learning, and the importance of episodes in learning science. Learning science must not be restricted to learning facts, formulae and substituting numbers in them: laboratory work is an essential and vital part for the understanding of science. He also discusses the meaning of constructivism for a science teacher, and the value of the pedagogical content knowledge. If we believe that students can use their existing knowledge to interpret what they now hear, and that they might be constructing different meanings from each other and from what the teacher intended, we as teachers have to take this fact seriously. We have to check what those constructions are, and we have to act if necessary to amend them. White also discusses the preparation and in-service support of pre-college science teachers, problems faced by researchers in science education, and some of his opinions about teaching problem solving, the importance of pedagogical content knowledge, and the proper role of textbooks in instruction. Finally he shares his view on how to rise standards in education: it all comes back to the central figure of teachers.