Black &amp; white or shades of grey : teachers perspectives on the role of nature of science in compulsory school science teaching

Leden, Lotta

doi:10.24834/2043/22322

Cited by 9 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 72 publications

(203 reference statements)

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…The main data consist of science textbooks used in the Swedish secondary school, because it is at this level that one expects a more complex teaching of the history of science. Furthermore, it is here that colonialism is introduced in the subject of history, in accordance with stipulations in the Swedish curricula (Johansson and Wickman 2012;Leden 2017). I have analyzed ten textbooks from the subjects of biology, physics, chemistry, and Bnatural sciences^(a school subject for non-science programs in upper secondary school).…”

Section: Methodological Staging: Studying Silence and Noisementioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, this is seldom done from a postcolonial theoretical lens. On the contrary, NoS is often emphasized as a tool to raise interest in science and to make it more useful for society and everyday life (e.g., Allchin 2014;Driver et al 1996;Aikenhead 2006;Leden 2017). That means that the purpose contributes to the discourse constructing science as important for societal progress-rather than problematizing the culture that it is a part of.…”

Section: Positioning the Paper In The Field Of Science Educationmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Science, Coloniality, and “the Great Rationality Divide”

Ideland

2018

Sci & Educ

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This article aims to analyze how science is discursively attached to certain parts of the world and certain Bkinds of people,^i.e., how scientific knowledge is culturally connected to the West and to whiteness. In focus is how the power technology of coloniality organizes scientific content in textbooks as well as how science students are met in the classroom. The empirical data consist of Swedish science textbooks. The analysis is guided by three questions: (1) if and how the colonial history of science is described in Swedish textbooks; (2) how history of science is described; (3) how the global South is represented. The analysis focuses on both what is said and what is unsaid, recurrent narratives, and cultural silences. To discuss how coloniality is organizing the idea of science eduation in terms of the science learner, previous studies are considered. The concepts of power/knowledge, epistemic violence, and coloniality are used to analyze how notions of scientific rationality and modernity are deeply entangled with a colonial way of seeing the world. The analysis shows that the colonial legacy of science and technology is not present in the textbooks. More evident is the talk about science as development. I claim that discourses on scientific development block out stories problematizing the violence done in the name of science. Furthermore, drawing on earlier classroom studies, I examine how the power of coloniality organize how students of color are met and taught, e.g., they are seen as in need of moral fostering rather than as scientific literate persons.

show abstract

Section: Methodological Staging: Studying Silence and Noisementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Positioning the Paper In The Field Of Science Educationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Science, Coloniality, and “the Great Rationality Divide”

Ideland

2018

Sci & Educ

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The two themes, sociocultural and subjective aspects, that are central for this article are deeply intertwined (see Section 1.2) and, hence in this article, merged into one overarching theme. The themes are briefly described below (for a more detailed description see Leden et al 2015;Leden 2017):…”

Section: Research Project and Data Collectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

From black and white to shades of grey

2017

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Traditional school science has been described as focused on indisputable facts where scientific processes and factors affecting these processes become obscured or left undiscussed. In this article, we report on teachers' perspectives on the teaching of sociocultural and subjective aspects of the nature of science (NOS) as a way to accomplish a more nuanced science teaching in Swedish compulsory school. The teachers (N = 6) took part in a longitudinal study on NOS and NOS teaching that spanned 3 years. The data consists of recorded and transcribed focus group discussions from all 3 years. In the analysis, the transcripts were searched for teachers' suggestions of issues, relevant for teaching in compulsory school, as well as opportunities and challenges connected to the teaching of these issues. The results of the analysis show that (a) the number of suggested issues increased over the years, (b) teachers' ways of contextualizing the issues changed from general and unprecise to more tightly connected to socio-scientific or scientific contexts, and (c) the number of both opportunities and challenges related to NOS teaching increased over the years. The most evident changes occurred from the beginning of year 2 when the focus group discussions became more closely directed towards concrete teaching activities. Tensions between the opportunities and challenges are discussed as well as how these can be met, and made use of, in science teacher education.

show abstract

“…Gustav: Det är lättare att ta upp om det bara är en sak man fokuserar på så är det mer som fastnar om man bara lyssnar för om man ska göra två saker-Bo: Men alltså hon säger typ vad vi ska göra den dagen det behöver man inte skriva ner vi har ju fått papper, därför tycker jag inte man behöver skriva ner för vi har ju planeringen. 78 Måns: Alltså man vill fokusera sig på lärarna för ibland när man bara skriver av så blir det liksom lätt att ehh hon håller på och skriva någonting, också försöker man hinna med att skriva vad hon säger och så hör man inte vad hon säger. Men i fall man lyssnar på vad hon skriver och kollar istället för att skriva så kommer man att uppfatta det på ett annat sätt av att få höra det och läsa det samtidigt och sen ta ett kort på det.…”

Section: Att Skriva Eller Inte Skriva Det äR Fråganunclassified

“…Men i fall man lyssnar på vad hon skriver och kollar istället för att skriva så kommer man att uppfatta det på ett annat sätt av att få höra det och läsa det samtidigt och sen ta ett kort på det. Lars: Nej, men alltså jag har aldrig tänkt på det, men alltså jag 78 Fokusgruppintervju grupp 4, 20151202.…”

Section: Att Skriva Eller Inte Skriva Det äR Fråganunclassified

I skrivandets spår : elever skriver i SO

Lindh¹

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Black & white or shades of grey : teachers perspectives on the role of nature of science in compulsory school science teaching

Cited by 9 publications

References 72 publications

Science, Coloniality, and “the Great Rationality Divide”

Science, Coloniality, and “the Great Rationality Divide”

From black and white to shades of grey

I skrivandets spår : elever skriver i SO

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About