Inclusion, Education and the Scientific Method

WRITTEN BY MARIA GUILLEN ALVARADO

Children don’t arrive with a manual.

Childhood is a whirlwind of activity and heightened emotion that comes with exponential social and emotional growth. Add to that the challenges of navigating academic expectations and a shifting worldview and the result is an exciting, delicate and sometimes turbulent time. As educators, we need to try to overlook every meltdown, classroom disruption and eye roll and see it as an opportunity to slow down and dig just a little deeper.

For neurodiverse children, this can be an especially challenging period. At Montana Science Center, we see students’ desire for a safe space to ask the biggest of questions, experiment and learn through play. Sometimes this means diving headfirst into a child’s specific curiosities (just a couple of weeks ago, my coworker spent most of an hour demonstrating a makeshift gizzard to an interested student), and other times this simply means providing a quiet place to explore a special interest.

Our observations working in a science education center tell us that a considerable percentage of the children we teach fall under the umbrella of neurodiversity. Like all other passionate educators, we are constantly evaluating and tinkering with our methods. What may the best practices be for preventing overstimulation in an informal education setting? Where is the line between frustration that helps children grow, and frustration that is detrimental to their interest in learning? While there are no one-size-fits-all answers to these enormous questions, we gather the small and seemingly unrelated clues that children give to us.

While the weather grows cooler and we begin to make our holiday plans, we’re keeping in mind the fundamental pieces that must fit together to create the most enriching formative experiences for all children. From Black Hole Friday to Noon Year’s Eve, we will evaluate and adjust and then re-evaluate and readjust— just as the scientific method requires. The countdown to a new year has started, and we look forward to continuing our development of hands-on learning, as well as flipping the calendar on a new year of discovery and science-based joy. As one of our students said at the end of our class session, “See you later, can’t wait to learn more!”

Maria Guillen Alvarado is the Education Coordinator at the Montana Science Center; she is passionate about accessibility and inclusion in education and beyond.