How to raise a scientist

Ok, now that I got your attention with the title, let me confess: I am not the most qualified to write this article. There are parents out there who have raised many children who have become successful scientists (the Ilag family at UP Los Baños and the David family at UP Diliman are some examples), and are eminently more credible in this area. But given the looming changes in Philippine education, and changes to science curricula, it is timely to discuss how parents can be positive forces in their children’s science education.

All parents want their kids to do well in school (read: get all A’s, be top of the class, get all the awards come recognition day). And parents go to great lengths to ensure this, including springing for pricey tuition at private schools and aiming for the top-of-the-line school supplies. Perhaps the most glaring evidence of this parental drive is the level of their participation in their children’s school homework. How many parents have practically done their kids’ school projects? I suggest that this kind of interference is not helpful, but may be in fact, downright harmful. The only things that kids learn from these kinds of projects, when mom comes up with the ideas and buys the materials, and dad does the gluing, or sawing, or nailing — is that failure is not an option, and that “mom and dad will always be there to bail me out.” These are precisely the wrong lessons budding scientists need to learn.

There are a lot of things budding scientists need to learn, but two of the most important are these: (1) Grades are not why you try to excel in school; and (2) It’s okay to make a mess and screw up.

1. Grades are not what drive the true learner. Sure, getting A’s and winning academic contests are fun and signify one’s mastery of the subject, but that is not the goal. True students of learning are AUTOTELIC — they derive pleasure from learning and doing well because of intrinsic reasons, and not because of external factors. This is hard for parents to internalize, since they consciously or subliminally send the message that doing well in school is the path to “success in life,” defined as having wealth and social mobility. Autotelic children derive pleasure from being able to solve that math problem, or being able to confirm for themselves (and explain to others) some law of nature, or being able to figure out how to set up an actual or thought experiment. They are curious, independent, and in general are able to defer their gratification. These are the kids who are able to enjoy what they are doing, often in the “flow” state, fully immersed in the learning activity. The reward of a good grade, although a source of pride for some of these kids, is secondary. So the message that parents should be sending is NOT that their son or daughter bring home a “100,” but that their kid should enjoy the work for its intrinsic rewards. In essence, ditch the external incentives such as toys and money for good grades. Rather, incentivize the fun and learning that happens.

One way of doing this is through family games that make learning fun. Another is to get kids to read as much as they can. Another way is to enable them to follow their passion of the moment. Your son likes dinosaurs — take him to the museum and make it fun to figure out HOW scientists can tell how they lived from fossils. Your daughter is fascinated with plants— get a library book on exotic plants and figure out HOW different plants use different adaptive strategies to survive. Make math come alive with real-world examples (let them estimate grocery bills, solve distance and time problems). This is what Randy Pausch (“The Last Lecture”) called the “head fake.” They’re having fun, but really they’re learning. Of course this is easier if parents also love learning (and minimize the pressure on grades). Just remember that nobody cares about grades once they’re out of school — they’re just not that important to true scientists. And be prepared for the passion of the moment to change. Your son may get tired of dinosaurs and move on to germs (an opportunity for microbiology!) or trucks (mechanics of motion!). Just ride the wave and keep it fun.

2. Let your kids make a mess. Empowering them to try out new things is more important than keeping your floor immaculate. Now this is not an attempt to justify laissez faire parenting where kids are the emperors of the house. All children need boundaries, and parents need to make sure that kids are safe, but our definition of “safe” need to be redefined. As long as there is little danger of bodily harm to them and to others, then let them loose. Let the kids explore the neighborhood stream, test the material properties of mud, inspect the wings on the housefly they caught, or derive the pigments from the gumamela flowers in the backyard. Better yet, do the “head fake,” and ask them what they learned, and how they can improve their “experiment” next time. Even better, supply them with the raw materials, or tell them how to get hold of materials they can use. Paper, pencil, cardboard, glue, scrap supplies — these are the ingredients of creativity and scientific inquiry. As long as they return borrowed materials, and clean up after themselves, who cares about an immaculate kitchen? 

Science is fun, and true learning is one of life’s joys. One of our roles as parents is to provide opportunities for our kids to discover and enjoy learning. And if a few of them turn out to have a lifelong passion for science, then congratulations to you!

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Francis L. de los Reyes III is a professor of Environmental Engineering at North Carolina State University. His research and teaching interests include environmental biotechnology, biological waste treatment, and molecular microbial ecology. He is on the editorial boards of ASCE Journal of Environmental Engineering and Philippine Science Letters. He was a Balik-Scientist of the DOST, and is a TED Fellow. He is a member of the Philippine-American Academy of Scientists and Engineers. His kids’ passions-of-the-moment are astrophysics, computer programming, and ballet. E-mail at [email protected].