When there’s something strange in your neighborhood school, who you gonna call? If there’s something weird in your kid’s homework and it don’t look good, who you gonna call? If you’re seeing creationist bills running through your legislature, who you gonna call?
Hopefully, my modest changes to those classic lyrics have you shouting “NCSE!” rather than “Ghostbusters!”
But when NCSE gets those calls, the first thing we do is look for people in the affected community. We succeed when there are concerned local citizens who can attend public hearings, people who can appreciate the particulars of personality and local history that shape a science education crisis and that will reveal a lasting solution.
That’s why I’m so pleased that NCSE is in a position to run a series of on-line trainings for citizens. These trainings will broaden and deepen the networks which make our work possible.
The first training is next Monday, November 25 (6 PM Eastern/3 PM Pacific), and I hope you’ll register now to take part.
This first session will be an overview of the strategies and skills involved in responding to a crisis. I’m hoping folks with history in the fights against creationism and climate change denial will participate and share their experiences, and that relative novices will take part and prepare themselves against the possibility of future attacks in their state or just their local school.
Space in the interactive webinar will be limited, unfortunately, but the session will be recorded, so you won’t miss out if the timing is bad for you, or if the session gets too full.
Here’s the full description, and I hope you’ll register now and take part next Monday.
NCSE training: Citizen response to attacks on science education on Nov 25, 2013 3:00 PM PST
What can citizens like you do to respond when science education comes under attack? How can you and other concerned citizens organize to fight back? What can you do to prevent attacks on science education in your community?
Based on the National Center for Science Education’s decades of experience, this workshop will build the skills you’ll need to ensure that evolution and climate change education are safe in your schools. When a parent calls wondering why her child was sent home with a creationist pamphlet, or a teacher needs to respond to pressure from parents or administrators to drop lessons on climate change, or when state legislators threaten to write science denial into state laws, NCSE relies on local voices and local experience to fight back. Throughout this training, we’ll work through such specific case studies to illustrate the skills and resources science education defenders need.
This first webinar training in a monthly series will survey the skills and resources which concerned citizens need in responding to attacks on science education. Topics will include how to build a network of like-minded people before and during a crisis, how to respond to an attack on science education, how to prevent a crisis from emerging in the first place, and how to prepare for a crisis and make the eventual reaction more effective. The webinar is intended for anyone from experienced activists to relative novices.
Session leader Josh Rosenau has been Programs and Policy Director at NCSE for six years, working with parents and teachers to resolve anti-evolution attacks and defuse conflicts over climate change education. Before joining NCSE, he was a graduate student in biology in Kansas and was drawn into the battles over evolution in the state’s science standards. At NCSE he trains scientists to speak about evolution to potentially hostile audiences, testifies before state board of education meetings, and helps local networks of citizens to plan their responses to statewide legislation and and local conflicts.
After registering, you will receive a confirmation e-mail containing information about joining the webinar.
