Agronomists, Schools and Science Education: reflections from the freirean perspective and Social Technology

Teacher beliefs about curriculum design affect the quality of science education in schools, but science researchers know little about the interrelation of beliefs about alternative curriculum designs. This article describes a quantitative study of secondary science teachers' beliefs about curriculum design. A 33-item Science Curriculum Orientation Inventory (SCOI) was developed to measure five distinct orientations to curriculum: academic, cognitive processes, societycentred, humanistic, and technological. Data were collected from 810 integrated science, chemistry, physics, and biology teachers in Hong Kong. A confirmatory factor analysis of teacher responses to the SCOI indicated that science teachers' beliefs about curriculum design had a hierarchical structure; the five distinct curriculum orientations were positively correlated, forming a second-order curriculum, meta-orientation. Physics teachers were less society-oriented than biology, integrated science and chemistry teachers, and integrated science teachers were more humanistic than physics teachers. Although science teachers' beliefs about any of the five alternative curriculum designs did not vary with their teaching experience, the difference between beliefs about the cognitive processes orientation and the humanistic orientation increased when teachers had gained more teaching experience. Implications of these findings are discussed.

The Elementary School Journal Volume 84, Number 4 S1984 by The University of Chicago. All rights reserved. 001 3-5984/84/8404-0004$01.00 Assumptions, even assumptions that seem logical and reasonable, can make it difficult or impossible for people to understand scientific concepts. Everyone makes assumptions about the way the world works, assumptions like "When the sky is cloudy and dark, it will probably rain" or "Bits of wood float in water." People often use those assumptions to explain how things work: "I can see myself in a mirror because light bounces off me to the mirror and off the mirror to my eyes." Such explanations or conceptions are often based on experience and common sense; however, experience and common sense can sometimes

Uspostavljanje modela filmske edukacije u srednjoj školi

In this article, a rationale for advancing a new idea in humanistic science education is developed from a Paulo Freire perspective. Paulo Freire developed a well‐known approach to adult literacy based on his humanistic ideas through the dialogical process. From Freirean educational principles, the idea unfolds that a Freirean humanistic science education perspective is a political commitment to sociopolitical action, considering conditions of oppression in society. Although some humanistic science education approaches to school science have incorporated a sociopolitical perspective, it is showed that not all of them necessarily focus on the political purpose of transforming oppressive conditions in society as stressed by Paulo Freire. From this Freirean humanistic perspective, an approach to science education is then highlighted, which implies the introduction of socially relevant themes and socioscientific issues, the establishment of a dialogical process in classroom, and the development of sociopolitical action. Hence, a Freirean perspective of science education is presented as a radical view of scientific literacy. Some implications of a Freirean approach to science education are outlined at the end of the paper. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.Sci Ed93:361–382, 2009

Identifying what matters: Science education, science communication, and democracy

BackgroundChagas Disease (CD) affects 6–7 million people worldwide and is related to poverty-promoting conditions. Chronic asymptomatic cases are mostly invisible to health systems. Aiming (1) to translate CD discoveries into education/information practices to raise alertness and empowerment of affected people; and (2) to perform an active search of CD cases, articulating intersectoral actions to improve the access of infected people to the local health service for the treatment of CD; our research group developed and tested under field conditions as innovative social technology: an itinerant education interdisciplinary setting named “Chagas Express XXI” (CE21).MethodologyCE21 was created as an “imaginary train” with ~40 ArtScience workshops, games, laboratory activities and conversation circles. An entry/exit plus six activity modules combined associations of affected people, microscopic observations, One Health education, and wellness activities. CE21 was conceived as a social technology, since all the processes were co-created with CD patients and inter-sector local partners. Descriptive statistics showed quantitative data collected throughout the expeditions (CD knowledge, serological results). Qualitative data accessed the public perceptions about the education activities.Principal findingsCE21 was exhibited in local educational institutions (schools, universities) in four cities, engaging 2,117 people that evaluated the 41 activities carried out. Citizens and health professionals enjoyed acquisition of information related to blood, parasites, vectors, reservoirs, environmental changes, and social determinants of CD. Further, local legacies of 600 participants volunteer for health promotion groups and CD associations, local empowerment groups to fight for better health conditions, and 05 mural paintings. We observed that 81% of the participants ignored the possibility of treating CD while 52% of the participants requested a blood test for CD showing seropositivity in 20% of them.ConclusionsCE21 is a social technology potentially useful for health and science education and active search of asymptomatic CD chronic cases. Moreover, this technology may be adapted to understand and to cooperate in other potentially epidemic situations, especially NTDs related.

Creativity is one of the key qualifications of the 21st century. Despite this importance, the topic plays a subordinate role in school and teacher training. The article will explore the question of what understanding and values prospective teachers have of creativity in science education. After the relevance of creativity for science education in elementary school is presented, possible definitions of creativity and divergent thinking are shown in the theoretical framework. Based on this, creativity in education and especially in science education in elementary school will be presented. This leads to the following questions: RQ1: What do preservice teachers of science education in elementary school understand by creativity? RQ2: How much relevance do preservice teachers of science education in elementary school attach to creativity for science education in elementary school? RQ3: What are preservice teachers’ views on the influence of different factors on the development of creativity and on the promotion of creativity in science education in elementary school? Preservice teachers of science education in elementary school (N = 131) from the states of Lower Saxony and North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany were surveyed. The respondents consider creativity to be important for learning in science education at elementary school. They also view creativity important not only for learning in a school context, as well as its high value in professional life in the future. Overall, the findings show that professional experience has no influence on opinions about creativity in science teaching in elementary school. Preservice teachers from the state of Lower Saxony have a somewhat more positive attitude towards the topic of creativity in science education in elementary school, although it must be said that the respondents from North Rhine-Westphalia also attach great relevance to the topic.

Science for all: The struggle to establish school science in EnglandE.Jenkins, 2019London, UCL Institute of Education Press £24.99 (paperback), 207 pp ISBN 978-1-78277-264-4

Alberto Vinicio Baez was a pioneer in the field of international science education. He was a physicist who played a leading role in UNESCO’s efforts to support science education globally. His research in the physics of light led to the development of an X-ray microscope and of imaging optics. He participated in projects to improve science education in high schools in the United States in the 1950s, a period of intense interest on this topic. In 1961 he was invited to join UNESCO to establish the Division of Science Education. In this position he wrote numerous papers, organized and participated in regional and international conferences, and studied and supported the development of projects to advance science and technology education in developing countries, with a special focus in secondary schools. The programme established the importance of science education, developed low-cost science kits, films and a structured, high-quality curriculum to support physics teachers in Latin America, chemistry education in Asia, biology education in Africa and mathematics education in the Arab States. Baez’s chief intellectual contributions to the field of science education centered on the development and dissemination of the ideas that it was necessary to democratize access to high-quality education in developing countries, that science education should focus on developing the capabilities needed to solve practical problems, and on the role of interdisciplinarity and social responsibility as core foundations of science education. He also articulated why high-quality science and technology education to improve living conditions in developing nations would contribute to addressing common global challenges faced by humanity, particularly achieving sustainable forms of human environmental interaction, reducing poverty and uncontrolled demographic expansion, and promoting peace. His writings and work to improve science education in developing countries reflect a theory of educational change that recognizes the synergies that result from engaging multiple stakeholders to initiate and sustain innovation and to institutionalize large-scale change. He favoured approaches that brought together scientists and teachers, and

A liberatory pedagogy, from a Freirean perspective, seeks to transform the classroom into a dialogic and student-powered learning environment by restructuring the student-teacher dichotomy. The purpose is change—not only to individual students’ lives and opportunities but also to the wider social reality. While these are the goals of many science educators, we rarely see Freirean perspectives specifically applied to science teaching. This article considers liberatory pedagogy applied to science teaching where it is perhaps needed most—in a classroom with racially and economically marginalized youth—and explores the challenges that both the structures of urban science classrooms and traditional views about science education pose to the application of Freirean pedagogy.

In our comments below we share with the membership our vision for JRST.We welcome critical dialog on these ideas.As editors of JRST we maintain and reaffirm the commitment to a diversity of inquiry modes, high scholarly standards, responsiveness to a world-wide-community, and willingness to publish manuscripts from a variety of perspectives.These features have helped to position JRST as the premier science education journal and one of the top educational journals in the world.At the same time, however, we are aware that with increasing globalization, a deeper reliance on on-line technologies, the demand for more timely publication of research, increasing competition with other journals and other media, more needs to be done for JRST to maintain its leadership worldwide.Our vision for JRST, therefore, is further defined by a desire to enhance the impact, visibility, and quality of JRST throughout the increasingly globalized and internationalized field of science education.We believe that JRST should be viewed as the place to seek powerful and cutting edge ideas supported by research and theory in formal and informal science teaching and learning.We will utilize new mechanisms within JRST to facilitate the level of impact that JRST has on policy and practice.For instance, we hope to work more closely with members of the policy community and with NSTA.Finally, we believe that the role of JRST as a site of interchange and education among authors and audiences must be further developed in order to push issues, theories and research and to build capacity in science education.How JRST continues to respond to these challenges will impact not only its home organization, NARST, but also how science education research is advanced globally in practice, theory, and policy and ultimately how our work impacts the teaching and learning of science.JRST serves a broad community of readers, authors, and reviewers from all parts of the globe.This global presence has blossomed in recent years and will continue to grow, provided JRST continues to serve this broader audience.The articles published in JRST must provide value for this diverse, worldwide community.They must also educate the larger JRST community about increasing global and international concerns.We will seek to better position JRST globally by continuing to expand the breadth of contributors, supporting diverse worldviews in educational research, exploring new, creative and divergent methods and ideas in JRST manuscripts, and building capacity among authors, reviewers and associate editors.As the knowledge base in JRST grows and more cutting edge ideas are published, JRST will grow in its global impact.Publications in JRST have explored a variety of critical questions in the field and have used diverse methods to answer these questions.This openness to various perspectives demonstrates the strength of the journal.As an editorial team, we will renew the commitment to seek this diversity in modes of inquiry.We will

This year, the scientific conference "Natural Science Education in a Comprehensive School - 2023" was held in its usual format. It is worth mentioning that during the Covid-19 pandemic, three conferences were held remotely, in 2020, 2021 and 2022. This two-day conference focused on science and technology education, which is a recent priority in society. There is a need to improve the teaching of science subjects and technology at all levels of general education. Particular attention should be paid to early science education. Ensuring adequate science and technology education means providing children with an education that teaches them to reason, think logically, explore, be creative and active. The plenary session of the conference was international and very interesting. A total of four keynote speeches were presented during this session. It is clear that the Plenary "bridged" different continents - Africa, Latin America, Europe. Professor Andris Broks discussed systemic issues in science and technology education, with a particular focus on the major challenges and changes of the present. Speakers from South Africa and Brazil shared their experiences in organising research activities for future teachers. Experiences from both countries in the training of science teachers were explored. The plenary also discussed developments in science education in the updated General Curricula in Lithuania. Informal discussions at the conference focused on educational experiences during the pandemic. All participants acknowledged that education in a pandemic is significantly more difficult. This is especially true for various non-formal education activities, or activities that take place outside the regular classroom (e.g. various project activities, research activities, etc.). Participants, especially those who are more or less regular attendees, stressed the importance of a "live" meeting. After all, informal communication has the main purpose of enabling a person to understand and be understood. This cannot be achieved in an online (remote) conference. It was hoped that the work of the conference would continue. Most conference reports were presented in the form of articles and published in the conference proceedings. One can find full texts in the database at: https://oaji.net/journal-archive-stats.html?number=1984&year=2023&issue=20002 Keywords: national conference, practical work, science education, science teachers, science pedagogy

Cross-national studies show that mass educational expansion has a significant positive effect on economic growth, mainly at the primary level, but also at the secondary level.' Qualitative features of national school systems such as the provision of textbooks, per-pupil expenditure, and the extent of teacher training also have modest economic effects, especially in the developing world.2 Debate continues on the array of institutional conditions that accentuates mass education's economic impact.3 The present study, by contrast, focuses on a new line of inquiry. It explores the relationship between official curricular policies and longterm economic growth from a cross-national perspective. Specifically, it seeks to determine whether, and to what extent, national variations in curricular content and structure-as distinct from enrollment growth or qualitative provisionssignificantly affect economic development. Comparative educational research typically analyzes the curricular content of national school systems according to a three-tiered classification scheme: the official, intended curriculum; the curriculum as implemented in schools and classrooms; and the curriculum as attained by pupils.4 This study focuses exclusively on the economic consequences of the first tier (the formally prescribed curriculum set forth by national educational authorities)

O presente trabalho visa contribuir para propostas de construção de um currículo de ciências em diálogo com as práticas quilombolas, a partir da discussão teórica sobre a potencialidade da perspectiva freireana em realidades quilombolas. Iniciamos o trabalho com um breve resgate histórico relacionando a educação do campo, educação para relações étnico-raciais e educação escolar quilombola. Na sequência, explicitamos nosso entendimento sobre a perspectiva freireana e o contexto quilombola no ensino de ciências. A partir disso relatamos, discutimos e propomos perspectivas sobre o levantamento da realidade para a construção de práticas de ciências no contexto quilombola, a partir da experimentação de sabão, goma e queijo. Por último, tecemos as considerações finais sobre os desafios de se integrar o ensino de ciências à educação quilombola. Palavras-chave: educação escolar quilombola, ensino de ciências, perspectiva freireana. The quilombola school education and the Science education: theoretical considerations about one experience ABSTRACT. This article aims to contribute to the construction of a science curriculum those dialogues with quilombola practices. For this, we assume a Freirean perspective in our proposal and analysis. At first, we relate rural education, education for ethnic-racial relations and quilombola school education in a brief contextualization. Next, we explain our reading of the Freirean perspective and the quilombola context in science education. Then, we report, discuss and propose perspectives for the construction of science practices in dialogue with quilombola realities, based on a case of experiments using processes related to soap, cassava gum and cheese. Finally, we consider some challenges of integrating science education with quilombola education. Keywords: quilombola school education, science education, freirean perspective. Educación escolar quilombola y educación científica: Reflexiones teóricas a partir de una experiencia RESUMEN. El presente trabajo tiene como objetivo contribuir con propuestas para la construcción de un plan de estudios científico en diálogo con las prácticas quilombolas, a partir de la discusión teórica sobre las potencialidades de la perspectiva freireana en realidades quilombolas. Iniciamos el trabajo con una breve reseña histórica que relaciona la educación rural, la educación sobre relaciones étnico-raciales y la educación escolar quilombola. Seguidamente, explicamos nuestra comprensión de la perspectiva freireana y la educación científica en el contexto quilombola. A partir de ello relatamos, discutimos y proponemos perspectivas sobre el análisis de la realidad para la construcción de prácticas científicas en diálogo con las realidades quilombolas, a partir de experimentos relacionados con el jabón, la goma de yuca y el queso. Finalmente, llegamos a conclusiones sobre los desafíos de integrar la educación científica a la educación quilombola. Palabras clave: educación escolar quilombola, educación científica, perspectiva freireana.

This review is devoted to the 20th national scientific practical conference „Natural Science Education in a Comprehensive School – 2014“. It is obvious, that this conference is devoted to topical issues of natural science education. Every year teachers from different schools of Lithuania, and also the teachers and scientists from different foreign countries attending the conference. The first national conference „Natural science education in comprehensive school“ took place in Upyte, Panevezys district, Antanas Belazaras basic school. At that time, the organisers did not have a clear vision concerning the future of that conference, because that was the time when Lithuanian education „construction“ was going on. The beginning was very hard – there were no finances, no support. However, there was a clear perception – this is necessary, this is important. The years passed. The second conference took place in 1996, the third in 1997… and now we have 2014. Owing to colleagues and like-minded people, this conference is up to now. The 20th national scientific practical conference took place. What is more, it „grew up“ – both quantitatively and qualitatively. During the mentioned period, various natural science subject, primary class teachers, pre-school education, non-formal education specialists, education managers, high school teachers, scientists and so on took part in the conference. We were learning from each other. It is obvious, that natural science and technological education success and effectiveness are determined not only by current and newly written textbooks, computers and other modern technologies, renovated school material basis, but, first of all, by education managers’ and organisers’ attitude and understanding. Equally the same understanding should also get stronger in natural science subject teachers’ consciousness. I hope, that conferences contribute significantly to this, and all participating in them, carry out a noble mission – develop natural science and technological education movement not only in Lithuania, but also outside its borders. Time is ruthless, memory is not all-powerful. We must save the memory and future education activities’ reference point. Twenty years is a certain epoch, during which a lot of changes occurred in the field of natural science and technological education. Some of the changes were that gave good results, the others – poor. However, all this is experience. A man is great and powerful in his mind; however, very often of a poor soul. He does not lack willingness and possibilities to create, however, at the same time he does not lack the willingness to destroy what has been created. Nature scientists’ worry is absolutely grounded. Today, it is not only natural education that is discussed about. It is more and more often discussed in a very broad context: natural science – technological – noospheric education. Therefore, a personal responsibility falls on us, natural science education specialists, for natural science education system creation and development. This is our primary responsibility and duty. Key words: national conference, science education, science and technological education movement.