Scientific literacy and agency within the Chilean science curriculum: A critical discourse analysis

Abstract

This paper aims to analyse the concepts of scientific literacy and agency in two official documents of the Chilean science curriculum. We used Fairclough's three dimensional model as critical lenses, based on critical discourse analysis, where every discursive event can be analysed: (i) as a text, (ii) as a discursive practice and (iii) as a social practice. The research questions were: ‘How are the different visions of scientific literacy operating and being promoted within the Chilean science curriculum?’ and ‘How is student and teacher agency declared in those documents?’ By understanding the curriculum as a dialectical process, as a social event between planning, executing, and evaluating education, we evidence tensions among different visions and paradigms for both concepts (scientific literacy and agency), specifically, in the transition from one cycle to another in secondary education. The first document has a predominantly neoliberal approach to scientific literacy and the second one presents a focus on citizenship, democracy, and social justice. As a social practice, in both documents, teachers appear under the idea of curriculum implementers, to a certain extent, based on a banking model where teachers are containers to receive someone else's curriculum expertise. The preceding imbalance raises potential tensions based on teacher performance and on student agency. Specifically, students must transition from a passive role and then consider themselves as active subjects who question how to produce knowledge, understanding their role within environmental conflicts within current socio‐political structures for instance.

Climate Change in Chile’s School Science Curriculum

“…As shown, most of the science curriculum activities linked to climate change concepts are based on vision II of scientific literacy, thus making it the main approach in the Chilean science curriculum throughout levels 1 to 10. These findings are consistent with previous reports on critical discourse analysis of Chilean science curriculum documents [15]. Critical approaches of scientific and environmental literacies, based on vision III, are typically seen only in levels 11 and 12, when students are introduced to visions that incorporate a citizenship view of science.…”

“…Vision III articulates scientific literacies with socio-political, economic, and environmental dimensions, making references to experiences, reflections, and collective actions, which investigate relations of power and justice and incorporate elements of transformation of social reality [24]. Critical scientific and environmental literacies provide lenses through which we analyze educational aspects and initiatives, such as curricula and educational practices [15]. This framework allows for an examination of how socio-scientific issues regarding climate change are addressed in the science curriculum, given the contribution of science in understanding the phenomenon and the need for action.…”

“…The research question guiding our work is: How does the current Chilean school science curriculum address understanding and acting upon the socio-environmental climate change emergency? We explored the content of Chilean curriculum documents through the lenses of critical scientific literacies [14,15] and curriculum integration, which "involves applying knowledge to questions and concerns that have personal and social significance. In doing this, the boundaries between separate subject areas are dissolved and knowledge is repositioned in the context of those questions and concerns" [16], p. xi.…”

‘I do not think I actually do it well’: a discourse analysis of Australian senior secondary teachers’ self‐efficacy and attitudes towards implementation of differentiated instruction

“…Discourse analysis was used as the primary method for analysing the thematic data. Discourse forms one's truths and norms (Niesche and Gowlett, 2015) and as such allows for the exploration of teachers' attitudes and beliefs towards DI in their classroom and school context (Guerrero and Torres-Olave, 2021). Discourse analysis allowed the researcher to understand how teachers construct DI socially and the factors that affect this construction.…”

A Three-Dimensional Discourse Analysis of SDGs Reports and Apple’s Environmental Progress Reports: A Corpus-Based Study

“…Furthermore, critical discourse analysis is applied to explore sustainability challenges in various contexts, including the Chilean science curriculum [9], Italian listed companies [10], and banks' strategies [11]. The review also encompasses critical discourse studies in China [12]- [14]) and discourse-historical analysis of China-related COVID-19 coverage [15].…”