After reading the article, “What’s Our Sputnik” by Thomas Friedman, I really thought that he raised some very valid points. His main point of view was that the war on terror was not really helping out our situation with global competitiveness and that we really should be looking at our own nation and putting money into helping develop new technologies to compete with China, who is currently our main economic partner as well as competitor. This uprising of China as a nation is what Friedman wants Americans to look at as the next Sputnik (Friedman, 2010).
Just to provide some background, when the United States learned that Russia launched the Sputnik satellite into space, it began the “Space Race” in the United States. There was a huge effort made nationally to revisit our education system, the way that we teach science, as well as our infrastructure. This momentum from competing with Russia and other nations to gain control of space exploration continued for about 50 years and was a key component to producing the Internet, along with encouraging more students to study math and science due to the fact that people genuinely were concerned with the status of the United States when compared globally.
Some people think that the war on terror should act as our new Sputnik, however like Friedman (2010) mentions; the results of this war have been greater national debt, better body scanners, and jobs for TSA at airports. This is really not helping our nation to compete with others across the world. I completely agree with Friedman that we really need to look at our priorities within our own nation before we dump time and resources into foreign countries. I understand that the majority of our oil comes from there, but there also comes a point when we need to take responsibility and figure out how to gain access to oil using our own nation’s resources. As mentioned in the article, we don’t need to totally abandon the war on terror, but rather to change the focus to one of demanding that the leaders in these countries step up to the plate and lead and fight against the craziness that is occurring. It seems that the Middle East has gotten complacent with us being there and they really need to start taking charge, especially since the US troops are now beginning to phase out of the war on terror as per President Obama’s latest address. If nothing changes, we are going to continue to waste our money and resources on a country that has no real benefit to our economy besides oil dependency.
I think that we do need to focus on the fact that the majority of NASA’s employees are headed towards retirement and we really need to promote the need for more STEM career choices to our students. It is especially scary now that our current Space Shuttle System is facing its last launch on July 8th. We are going to be literally thumbing a ride with Russia in order to get to the International Space Station. This to me presents a huge problem in our race to innovation and technology. I think that on a local, state and national level there needs to be more publicity about what STEM stands for and why we need more students and citizens to engage in this career field. If society really understood our dire need for scientists and engineers along with the fact that other nations continue to surpass us on math and science assessments, maybe this would spark them to support an initiative to invest in science education. I think that the first step is awareness using a major marketing campaign.
The United States is trying to get on a course towards improvement and I don’t think that we necessarily need an event like Sputnik to spark our attention and commitment to science education reform. I really just think that society needs to be made aware of the cold hard facts and the statistics that show how other countries like China and India and sending their engineers to America to work and taking the jobs of our citizens due to the fact that they are more qualified. Also, I think that when our Space Shuttle Program ends many people will realize that we do need to do something next and quickly. Using Russia for transportation into space will be very limited and we will be completely at their will. This is a scary thought. I know that NASA is already in the planning stages of a Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle, but what will happen in the meantime if we need to get to space on our own?
Other countries have not cut funding for their space programs, especially China and Russia. Also, there seems to be much more funding for education in other countries with a high focus placed on science and math career paths. It also seems that we are one of the few nations that dabble in foreign politics. You rarely hear of China or Russia supporting another country that is having an internal war. They are instead focusing on the innovation that is occurring within the borders and supporting STEM learning in any way possible.
In conclusion, I do not that think that we need to wait around for another Sputnik-like event. Right now we need to focus on raising awareness about the state of America and the fact that we are soon to be behind the technological advances of China and Russia if we do not act quickly. President Obama has stated that he is going to be pushing STEM and STEM education, but we all need to do our part on a national level to educate society on the fate of our nation if we do not produce some more quality scientists and engineers. Also, funding to education needs to be increased and not cut, specifically to fund STEM initiatives within states and districts. The more our nation realizes the global competition that is currently occurring, the more they will be motivated to do something about it. Let’s begin with educating our children to the best of our ability and preparing them with 21st century skills for the future.
References
Friedman, T. L. (2010, January 17). What’s our sputnik? [Op-Ed]. The New York Times [Late Edition (East Coast)], p. WK.8.
Hi Megan,
ReplyDeleteI was just watching news coverage of the final space shuttle launch and how much space exploration has impacted our lives including advancements in communication, computers and not the mention how much we have leanred about space with the Hubble telescope. It makes me a little sad that this era is ending. You bring up a really good point about the fact that a lot of NASA's scientists will be retiring soon and we need to make sure, as a nation, that we are able to replace them with our own students from the US.
As an educator I want to be sure I am one of the people helping to contribute to the education of our citizens and hopefully do my best to prepare them for 21st century skills.
Aloha Megan,
ReplyDeleteI agree with you and the article -that too much money and attention are spent on the war. We should be making education and STEM our priority here in America. We do need to inspire our youth to embark on STEM careers because our planet(as well as NASA) needs us to solve some very serious environmental issues. I think that if the nation would make saving the Earth a national priority it could be the "Sputnik" we need. The fear and compassion for our planet is so real that I can foresee many passionate students arise for its cause.