Dear Editor,

As a student at Morant Bay High School in the late 1960s, there were some classes that I could not wait to start. One such class was biology, taught by “Miss Glasgow”.

Her appearance in class was impeccable, sartorial elegance that was equal to her professional application. She was that quintessential teacher in general and biology teacher in particular. I recalled a timeless lesson in anticipatory intelligence she imparted in class about forward thinking and planning. She told the class that when she planned her trip to Kingston, she detailed the route to her destination instead of working out the journey when arriving in the big city. This was my first encounter with her.

In the second encounter, I met Dr Joyce Glasgow, the scholar by way of trailblazing academic research that offered far-reaching recommendations on science for national development and insightful lessons in teaching science in the formal and informal spheres. She was clear in her work that science was not only for bright children.

In her response to the scientific explosions of the 20th century, she published ‘Scientific Literacy — Its meaning and its importance for Jamaica’ (1985), published in Caribbean Quarterly. The scholarly paper argues that our very survival depends on the extent of scientific literacy in the society. She illustrates the transformative and emancipating power of science and called for scientific literacy, which is taking science to the everyday-lived experience.

I pay tribute to Dr Glasgow by way of sharing highlights of her insightful study on scientific literacy and Jamaica. Scientific literacy is the ability to understand scientific literature and its wider concept. In the study, she illustrates some important elements of scientific literacy: having the basic knowledge of science as a problem-solving discipline; having the ability to apply science to everyday personal problems; having an understanding of the language of science; having an attitude of curiosity; making the distinction between self and the environment; having an intelligent approach to decision-making; and having the ability to make a distinction between science and technology.

This is the interesting part of her study. According to Dr Glasgow, scientific literacy is necessary to inform planning at the national and educational levels. She illustrates the development of “anticipatory intelligence” at the “national level as having the capacity to identify situations threatening or advantageous to it from inside or outside”, and that the “increasing significance of science and technology in policy decisions of Government makes it important that the levels of scientific literacy of citizens be raised”.

At the educational level, Dr Glasgow suggests that it is important for the knowledge of the basic principles as well as investigative and problem-solving skills imparted in any science education programme as the basic fabric to build the attitude of curiosity. She calls for the imparting of these skills to promote their transference to real-life situations, which has implications for teaching methodology as well as subject content. And finally, she recommends the formalisation of the national policy on science and technology, and that it was “time to examine and clarify the nation’s goals and priorities for science education in the widest sense, as this must surely be the foundation on which any hope” on which of scientific literacy must rest.

Her simple and timeless lesson on working out the journey to her destination was, indeed, grounded in anticipatory intelligence.

Louis E A Moyston

thearchives01@yahoo.com