Whose interests are being served in cross-cultural science teaching?

I have chosen to address this question by writing a story, ‘The Mission’, that, I hope, will serve as a prompt for the reader to join in dialogue with others interested in the need for culture-sensitive science education. The writing of stories based in science education research is becoming recognised as a powerful way of stimulating critical discourse (Taylor, in press; Taylor & Geelan, 1998). Although The Mission combines fact and fiction, it is based on recent interpretive research on the teaching of science in Kantri, a South Pacific country (Giddings & Waldrip, 1993; Waldrip & Taylor, in press a, b), and on a call for a critical science education (Taylor & Cobern, 1998). There are two epistemic warrants for the story. For the character of Lapun, I have drawn on interviews of village elders to give the story authenticity and plausibility (verisimilitude; Adler & Adler, 1994). And to engage the reader in critical reflective thinking I have raised many questions and proposed no answers (pedagogical thoughtfulness; van Manen, 1990). Although I must admit to having fashioned some pointed clues..

Finding a sustainable cultural identity as a science teacher educator: A Mozambican perspective

Mozambican schools are not helping students to see themselves as culturally rich beings because local cultural values, traditions, knowledge and beliefs have never been included in the curriculum. More than 30 years after independence from 500 years of Portuguese colonial rule, Mozambican science teachers continue to serve as agents of assimilation of students into a Western modern worldview that is indifferent to their local cultural identities and aspirations. As a science teacher educator preparing new teachers for Mozambican schools Cupane (first author) saw his cultural identity to be part of the problem and part of the solution. He designed a critical auto-ethnographic inquiry and explored (and transformed) his cultural identity as he addressed the key research question: How can school science serve better the cultural development of local school communities in Mozambique? A key outcome of this research is Cupane’s multi-cultural identity as a Mozambican, an indigenous (Changana) person, a world citizen, and a science teacher educator. Generating this understanding has fuelled his vision of future science education for Mozambique for which he has articulated a culture-sensitive philosophy of physics teacher education

Teaching bioethics in science: Does it make a difference?

Presents research that evaluated the extent to which a biotechnology course enabled female secondary students to develop the skills to analyze bioethical issues. The emergent significance of the study lies in the recognition of the value systems that underpin the ethical decision-making processes of teenage girls

Complementary epistemologies of science teaching: Towards an integral perspective

For over two decades, science education has been a site of struggle between adherents of the apparently antithetical epistemologies of objectivism and constructivism; recently, proponents of personal and social constructivism have locked horns. However, at the beginning of the 21st Century, we feel that it is timely for science education to enter an age of pluralism, of tolerance for multiple and competing ways of knowing, in which no one way is ultimately privileged; to exercise humility about the authority of our cherished ways of knowing the world around us. In the interest of creating greater equity of access amongst students to a much richer encounter with science, a new mode of pedagogical reasoning is needed. From the perspective of constructive postmodernism, we propose dialectical thinking as a way of generating unity-in- diversity, and metaphor as a key referent for overcoming the obstacle of literalism which tends to reinforce fundamentalist notions of difference. We illustrate the viability of an integral perspective on science teaching with a brief account of an inquiry into the scientific literacy of a class of junior high school students, from which emerged a 3-metaphor framework. Mindful of the limitations of this framework, we argue for science education researchers to join us in conceptualizing more powerful and compelling integral metaphors for promoting worldwide epistemological pluralism and cultural diversity

Critical autobiographical research for science educators

In recent years the popularity of qualitative research in science education has increased dramatically. This is an evolving field in which new forms, such as critical autobiographical research, are emerging. This form of research focuses on the researcher’s own life-history, involves writing in the narrative first person voice, and can give unique insights into the social and cultural forces shaping his/her own practice. Autobiographical research can be part of a multi-method participant-observation study, helping the researcher to deal with his/her own biases prior to interpreting and representing the perspectives of other participants. Autobiographical research also can form the whole inquiry, especially in cultural research, thereby enabling science educators to become cultural researchers and reveal hidden cultural forces influencing the social structures of schooling, the curriculum and their own pedagogies. Autobiographical writing, which is part of the inquiry process, commences with a descriptive account of key-issues and develops further into reflective thinking, generating new insights and heightening the researcher’s sensitivities towards those issues, thereby enabling the researcher to see his/her research in the context of his/her biography and culture. An important goal of autobiographical writing is to develop pedagogical thoughtfulness. Another goal is moral; through the writing process we can come to understand how to make increasingly educative our interactions with others who share a commitment to educating the young. Not surprisingly, there are critical voices questioning the rigor and legitimacy of literature-based autobiographical writing. However, these concerns are largely unfounded because good autobiographical research attends to a set of quality standards. Critical autobiography as research is thus a powerful and legitimate means for making science classrooms more culturally relevant and more meaningful to students worldwide

Representing critical reflections in teacher education

This critical action research study explores the professional growth of a middle school teacher and two teacher educators. It focuses on a professional development program in which one author (Bev) had the role of student, one of teacher (Peter), and one of the teacher's 'critical friend' (David). The program's epistemology was based on Habermas' theory of 'knowledge and human interests', emphasising the 'emancipatory' interest's potential for creating empowering learning environments. The teaching and learning roles of the participants, with their professional development and new understandings, are explored with reference to a 'critical incident' that sparked this inquiry. Narrative accounts are used to explore the sometimes conflicting meanings constructed by the authors, highlighting the complex nature of their educative discourses and problematising notions of emancipatory curriculum and student empowerment

Embodying our values in our teaching practices: Building open and critical discourse through computer mediated communication

Computer mediated communication—including web pages, email and web-based bulletin boards—was used to support the development of a cooperative learning community among students in a web-based distance education unit for practicing science and mathematics educators. The students lived in several Australian states and a number of Pacific Rim countries. They reported increased satisfaction with their studies, decreased feelings of isolation, and better support for their learning processes. This article describes the iterative processes of research and design involved in developing and refining the unit, which was based in a social constructivist/constructionist conception of teaching and learning, between 1997 and 1999. Issues and implications for others planning to develop web-based teaching units, including the time and energy commitment involved, and the challenges of credibly assessing online participation, are also considered

The role of negotiation in a constructivist-oriented Hands-On and Minds-On science laboratory classroom

Constructivist classroom environments are characterized by student engagement in science processes and manipulating experimental materials with experiential teaching of specific science concepts. Constructivist classrooms are where teachers build models of students' science knowledge, students participate actively in determining the viability of their own constructions, learning is interactive, cooperative and collaborative. The philosophical, psychological and pedagogical models for science teaching within the paradigm of constructivism are congruent with encouraging both "hands-on" and "minds-on" approaches in science laboratories with respect to a number of issues which include: preparation, pacing, need for attention, negotiation of social norms and negotiation of meanings. Arising out of the constructivist epistemology, therefore, is the need to use negotiated learning pedagogy in a constructivist-oriented science classroom. Given the socially active nature of science laboratory classes characterized by the need to exchange information, the use of negotiated learning pedagogy is even more compelling. If negotiation is to become an integral part of science teaching, teachers need to know what it means and how to identify and classify types of negotiation which go on in their classes. At the moment, the literature indicates a void in this area which needs to be filled as science educators aspire to appropriate use of constructivist pedagogy for meaningful teaching and learning of science. This study therefore investigated the sorts of teacher/student negotiation which can occur in a school science laboratory and attempted to find out if the types of negotiation identified could be grouped meaningfully. Using a case study approach which utilized a participant observation technique, seven groupings of negotiation were identified from several learning events within science practical classes of a selected teacher. The implications of the results together with the difficulties associated with structuring a constructivist science class to accommodate negotiation as a significant part of science teaching strategies are discussed

Theory, ethics and politics: Interpretive research in science education

In this paper, we consider the role of theory, ethics and politics in interpretive research and focus our discussion on the evolving interpretive framework of Cath's doctoral study of cultural myths in the science classroom. In constructing this framework, Cath is seeking to gain insight into how myths develop, how myths have been identified and interpreted by other researchers, and how others have described the role of myths in society. Her interpretation of other people's research and theorising constitutes a synthesis of the literature (traditionally called a 'literature review') and is assisting her to construct an interpretive framework for a subsequent analysis of classroom discursive practices in school science. During this selfreflective process, Cath is considering how her study is to be legitimated. In this respect, she is examining the relationship between ethics, theory and politics in interpretive research

Writing the teaching self: The narrative of inquiry

Auto-ethnographic and narrative inquiry provides opportunities for teachers to reflect the personal with a curriculum dominated identity; a human kind of offering, with research as a living guide to revelation. The relative habitat of self in the context of teaching is a topic still under review, especially as it applies to the storying of self in a collective, professional life-world and the artefacts and icons of systems. I use auto-tales and biography combined with narrative inquiry as literary devices to explore teaching as a lived experience with a human map connected to others. Storying serves as an empathetic bridge to development and invites reflexive practice as we recollect our lives in the context of experience. I explore the medium of poly-vocal writing to evoke and discuss identity among the nature of teaching, calling on crucial literature as referent voices. I explore the medium of poly-vocal writing to evoke and discuss identity among the overt and covert nature of teaching, calling on crucial literature as referent voices