Contextualizing Science for Ethical Understanding—Case Narrative of an Undergrad Teacher

Abstract

The present chapter presents a case study of an Undergrad Biology teacher named ‘Prakash’ in order to understand the different facets of his pedagogical content knowledge in the area of ‘Ethical Issues in Biological Sciences’. The different knowledge domains include his idea about teaching, learning, pedagogy, curriculum, students’ alternative conceptions, assessment of students’ understanding, views on Nature of Science (NOS), etc. in the context of ethical issues in Biological Sciences. Transacting ethical issues within Biological Sciences in the classroom often requires contextualizing teaching and learning of Science and scientific concepts such that the students no more feel alienated with Science, technology and their applications in daily life. It is important for students to realize the everyday role of Science and technology and their stake in decision-making processes. For this to happen, the present teacher tries to make the teaching of Science as interactive and dramatic as possible, by including lived experiences, relevant and recent research, audio-visual aids, narratives and documentaries which kind of dissolves all hierarchies and power dynamics in the classroom and provides much needed freedom of thought and expression. Such a case study will also provide an insight into the categories of teachers’ knowledge that need to be developed for addressing ethical issues in a Science classroom. The case study also provides exemplars of vignettes, classroom discourses, open-ended questions and other instances from the real classroom situations which may serve as a roadmap for teachers to address these issues in their classrooms.