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102

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ON THE APPLICATION OF SCIENCE TO TEACHING
AND TEACHER EDUCATION
Thomas J. Cooney
Athens (Georgia)
2. THE NOTION OF BEING SCIENTIFIC
The notion of being scientific has many connotations as it is applied to im-
proving the teaching and learning of mathematics. A view of science that
emphasizes regimented procedures yielding sweeping generalizations led
Highet to conclude that science, so conceived, had little relevance to im-
proving the art of teaching.
I believe that teaching is an art, not a science. It seems to me very dangerous to
apply the aims and methods of science to human beings as individuals, although a
statistical principle can often be used to explain their behavior in large groups
. . . . A scientific relationship between human beings is bound to be inadequate
and perhaps distorted. (Highet, 1950, p. viii)
Davis (1967) echoed the same sentiment when he argued that teaching
mathematics "is not the application of a science in any presently meaningful
sense of such a phrase" (p. 38).
But some disagreed. Gage (1972), for example, argued that the objectiv-
ity of science could contribute to the improvement of education and could
eventually provide a basis for constructing teacher education programs. This
argument was echoed many times throughout the 1970s. Gallagher (1970)
maintained that it was through science that the artistry of teaching can be
revealed to those trying to master the art. Brophy put it quite bluntly.
Teacher educators and educational researchers need to pay more attention to the
accumulation of a data base that would allow truly prescriptive teacher education
to emerge. Propounding ideas on the basis of commitments rather than supportive
data is unscientific to say the least, and blowing with the wind by propounding
R. Biehler, R. W. Scholz, R. Sträßer, B. Winkelmann (Eds.),