Narrative in the science curriculum

Internationally, science curricula make specific demands on students for the achievement of some level of scientific literacy. The details of what this means, and how it is to be achieved, have often been left for the teacher to elaborate. This paper argues thatnarrative, as a valued component of scientific literacy, offers a structure that allows scientific concepts to be (1) more easily integrated into other conceptual understandings, (2) more easily recalled, (3) more easily ordered and structured in the mind, and (4) an important component of the what it means to be a Self. The paper ends with practical suggestions for the use of narratives in the science classroom. Specializations: language and science, science for nurses, narrative and science education.     

Language science in the tertiary curriculum

The goal of linguistics has been in dispute since its origin as a scientific discipline. The situation remains confused and consequently the curricular position of linguistics is ambiguous. An examination of the historical reasons for this indicates the following conclusions: At the time when language was first proposed as a subject for scientific study the natural sciences were still dominated by the mechanical model of Newtonian physics; this attitude of mind has inhibited the development of linguistics.Further development ought logically to depend on the harmonisation of linguistics with modern scientific concepts, such as relativity, probability, system and field. Such a move would constitute in part a new goal for linguistics. If such an innovation is admitted, those areas where language study overlaps with other subjects, e.g. psychology, logic and anthropology, provide natural exit points for a study of language and the epistemology of science.Linguistics is therefore capable of serving as a foundational discipline in a liberal arts curriculum. Its particular claim to assume this role lies in the fact that language is the object of both humanistic and scientific study. Hence to give linguistics a more central role in the tertiary curriculum offers a fundamental educational benefit in narrowing the cultural gap between the arts and science, and it is worth considering a change of emphasis in the curriculum to achieve this end.The aim of this paper is not to suggest detailed changes but to stimulate discussion of this consideration.     

Environment in the science curriculum: The politics of change in the Pan-Canadian science curriculum development process

This paper draws on the experience of the Pan-Canadian science curriculum development process as an instance of the more general problem of integrating science and environmental education. It problematizes the issue of incorporation of social and environmental dimensions within the science curriculum in terms of both policy and practice. The agenda of environmental education, as eco-philosophical and eco-political, provides a radically different base from which to explore the impact of change on science teachers and schools. Thus, the very idea of environmental education as an educational policy goal must be examined in light of conflicting agendas of science and environmental education. This paper argues that transforming structures and processes of school science to enable different teacher and student roles involves closing the gap between curriculum (policy) development and professional development as well as reconceptualizing science education, but from more overtly open moral value and political perspectives than have been considered in the literature of science education.     

Realising the school science curriculum

Abstract

This article identifies historical, pedagogical and epistemological problems which distance the school science curriculum from social questions, and issues of social justice more specifically. Drawing on a critical realist approach it addresses these problems and aims to demonstrate that social justice lies at the heart of inquiry in science in schools.     

Towards an indigenous science curriculum

The recent development of a national science curriculum in Māori opened up space to contest whose knowledge and whose ways of knowing are included. This paper outlines the background to the curriculum development work in Aotearoa New Zealand with respect to the indigenous Māori people and science education. Concern is expressed about the fitting of one cultural framework into another and questions are raised about the approach used in the development of the science curriculum. Further research in the area of language, culture and science education is discussed along with how Māori might move forward in the endeavour of developing a curriculum that reflects Māori culture and language. This paper forms part of an MEd thesis. For a fuller analysis of the development of “Te Tauākī Marautanga Pūtaiao: He Tauira” (Draft National Science Curriculum in Māori) see McKinley (1995) in the references. See alsoSAMEpapers 1995 (Hamilton, New Zealand: Centre for Science, Mathematics and Technology Education, University of Waikato).     

Indigenous knowledge in the science curriculum: avoiding neo-colonialism

Science education in Papua New Guinea has been influenced by neo-colonial practices that have significantly contributed to the silencing of the Papua New Guinea voice. This silencing has led to the production of science curriculum documents that are irrelevant to the students for whom they are written. To avoid being caught up in neo-colonial practices, Western science educators ought to consider the notion of cultural mediators. This position, I argue, infers an obligation to take responsibility for their actions and to consider postcolonial discourses as a way of understanding the relationships and dialogue between different ways of knowing.     

Aboriginal studies and the science curriculum: Affective outcomes from a curriculum intervention

The study of Aboriginal culture in schools is supported by an increasing number of educators and government committees. However, in the absence of substantial research evidence, it has been difficult to propose justifiable curricular recommendations. The results of this exploratory study suggest that student attitudes towards Aborigines and Aboriginal culture can be improved by a science program which features an Aboriginal Studies component. Further, it is suggested that there is scope for the development of up-to-date curriculum materials and more comprehensive studies. Specializations: science education, teaching thinking. Specializations: science education, curriculum theory and design, teacher development.     

Teacher agency in the performance of inquiry-oriented science curriculum reform

In this commentary, I consider several theoretical and analytical aspects of Tang Wee Teo and Margery Osborne??s case study. I begin by identifying structuralist and cultural themes in Tang Wee and Margery??s theoretical model of human activity. Next, I offer an alternative interpretation for Tang Wee and Margery??s reported findings in terms of the notion of multiple teacher agencies. After that, I discuss the dramaturgical or theatrical nature of the symbolic interactionist model used by Tang Wee and Margery, focusing specifically on the issues of teacher role-taking and curriculum authorship. The paper then ends with a discussion about the significance of Tang Wee and Margery??s study wherein I emphasize the need for science education researchers to give more careful consideration to teacher agency and the analytical value of theatrical metaphors from the field of social dramatism.     

Reforming science in the school curriculum: a critical analysis

This article is concerned with the founding purposes and justification of natural science in the statutory school curriculum. It offers a critique of the strand of argument and the proposals for reform which have developed after the report Beyond 2000 focused on a particular usage of the term ‘scientific literacy’. Two lines of argument are criticised. These are, first, the view that a founding purpose of the science curriculum can be to prepare students for dealing as adults with socio‐political issues with a scientific aspect, and, second, that there is a well‐defined distinction to be drawn between the purposes of the statutory curriculum for pupils who will become professional scientists and others. The article suggests that these issues have not been the subject of sustained and open‐minded examination in recent years, and calls for such an examination.     

Elementary student teachers' science content representations

This purpose of this study was to examine the ways in which three prospective teachers who had early opportunities to teach science would approach representing science content within the context of their student teaching experiences. The study is framed in the literature on pedagogical content knowledge and learning to teach. A situated perspective on cognition is applied to better understand the influence of context and the role of the cooperating teacher. The three participants were enrolled in an experimental teacher preparation program designed to enhance the teaching of science at the elementary level. Qualitative case study design guided the collection, organization, and analysis of data. Multiple forms of data associated with student teachers' content representations were collected, including audiotaped planning and reflection interviews, written lesson plans and reflections, and videotaped teaching experiences. Broad analysis categories were developed and refined around the subconstructs of content representation (i.e., knowledge of instructional strategies that promote learning and knowledge of students and their requirements for meaningful science learning). Findings suggest that when prospective teachers are provided with opportunities to apply and reflect substantively on their developing considerations for supporting children's science learning, they are able to maintain a subject matter emphasis. However, in the absence of such opportunities, student teachers abandon their subject matter emphasis, even when they have had extensive background and experiences addressing subject‐specific considerations for teaching and learning. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 39: 443–463, 2002     

The science supervisor and the utilization of curriculum materials

Would the reader identify with a supervisor of K-6 science, a supervisor selecting NSF-sponsored materials, or a university science educator? The author finds differences in the perception of a supervisor's role.     

Developing networks of grass-roots science curriculum action

This paper describes an ongoing process of participatory curriculum development. It outlines some of the tensions which need to be explored in science curriculum development: debates about the nature of science, of society, of school science content and of learning theories. The process whereby action can arise from this debate is also explored. An example will be outlined of a network of science curriculum action which has developed from the work of a range of science education projects in Natal, South Africa. Specializations: science curriculum development from primary to tertiary level. Specializations: inservice primary science teacher development. Specializations: inservice teacher development, biology education. Specializations: environmental education, teacher development. Specializations: environmental education, teacher development.