Jeffrey W. Bloom

I'm currently a researcher with and advisory board member of the International Bateson Institute and professor emeritus of science education and curriculum studies.

My interest in science started in elementary school, then took off when I became obsessed with sharks in grade 7. After college and some graduate studies, I worked in a marine biology lab in New York. But, then I got the bug to teach. I began my teaching career at a Friends middle school in Brooklyn, New York, then moved around the country teaching everything from grades 2 through 12 private and public schools. Since 1987, I've been helping future and current teachers look at teaching and learning from different perspectives. My research has focused on children's learning, thinking, and talk, as well as on teaching, teacher thinking, and the development of participatory democratic classroom communities.

My concerns with education involve how to help children develop in ways that allow them to realize their own potentials, to be decent and caring individuals, and to enjoy learning. I put a great deal of focus on how to engage children in inquiry about their worlds. Although I specialize in science education, I'm much more interested in promoting children's explorations of all aspects of their worlds, from the arts to the sciences and how all subject matter areas are interconnected. I'm concerned that the push for standards and the use of standardized tests are moving education in the wrong direction.

Creating a Classroom Community of Young Scientists emphasizes an alternative approach to teaching science (and all subject matter areas) that is engaging, creative, and complex. The Really Useful Elementary Science Book provides an overview of some of the important concepts of science in which children tend to engage as they explore the scientific explanations of the world around them.

My current work focuses researching systems and systems thinking in a variety of contexts. I also am interesting in approaches to teaching and learning about our local and global ecology, social justice, and systems thinking.