Humanizing and feminizing school science: reviving anthropomorphic and animistic thinking in constructivist science education

Abstract

Science and scientists in general reject any form of animism or anthropomorphism. Meanwhile, there is considerable evidence that these forms of thinking are quite commonly present in the constructions and causal explanations of both children and adults as they try to make sense of their everyday world. The question is: can animistic and anthropomorphic ways of thinking have any positive value in school science? This article addresses four distinctive but linked issues within the broad context of constructivist science education. The first concerns the mismatch between animistic thought and the ‘mechanistic’ world‐view of orthodox science. The second examines the extent to which such ways of thinking are manifest and their relationship to general constructivist theory. The third explores briefly some classroom and textbook examples in use. The fourth explores some implications of this for instruction in science education. Within this, the article is premised on the notion that the mechanistic nature of science is one barrier to the recruitment of young women to science. The corollary is that the deliberative use of animistic and anthropomorphic ideas would increase the ‘human’ appeal of science and reduce the alienation felt by young women in science. The article explores the fact that, while it is not uncommon for textbooks, teachers and pupils to use ideas like this‐which they seem to recognize as a useful approach to teaching and learning, such uses are ‘covert’ and lack any sense of approval and positive development. Given that school science is a ‘reconstruction’ of science itself, the suggestion is that it be reshaped further and that animistic and anthropomorphic ideas be explored in order to exploit their pedagogic potence.