The nature of science in science education: theories and practices

• Main Authors: Ana Maria Morais, Isabel Pestana Neves, Sílvia Ferreira, Leonor Saraiva
• Format: Article
• Language: Portuguese
• Published: Universidade Estadual de Ponta Grossa 2018-01-01
• Series: Práxis Educativa
• Subjects: Science education; Nature of science; Pedagogic discourse; Classroom strategy
• Online Access: http://www.revistas2.uepg.br/index.php/praxiseducativa/article/view/10088/5770
• ISSN: 1809-4031; 1809-4309

The article is based on results of research carried out by the ESSA Group (Sociological Studies of the Classroom) centred on the inclusion of the nature of science (metascience) on science education. The results, based on analyses of various educational texts and contexts – curricula/syllabuses, textbooks and pedagogic practices – and of the relations between those texts/contexts, have in general shown a reduced presence and low conceptualization of metascience. The article starts by presenting the theoretical framework of the research of the ESSA Group which was focused on the introduction of the nature of science in science education. It is mostly based on Ziman’s conceptualization of metascience (1984, 2000) and on Bernstein’s theorization of production and reproduction of knowledge, particularly his model of pedagogic discourse (1990, 2000) and knowledge structures (1999). This is followed by the description of a pedagogical strategy, theoretically grounded, which explores the nature of science in the classroom context. The intention is to give an example of a strategy which privileges a high level learning for all students and which may contribute to a reflection about the inclusion of the nature of science on science education. Finally, considerations are made about the applicability of the strategy on the basis of previous theoretical and empirical arguments which sustain its use in the context of science education.