Science education as South Africa's Trojan Horse

Abstract

Nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) have helped revitalize science education in South Africa and breach the iron control exercised over Black education by the apartheid government. Yet, back in the early 1970s NGOs in science education did not exist. This article is based on the story of one such NGO and the role it played in reconceptualizing science education in South Africa. It describes how the Science Education Project (SEP) confronted authoritarian practices not only of government departments of education but also within its own ranks. It concludes by suggesting that a way can be found whereby science education can become the Trojan horse of any authoritarian system. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 36: 373–385, 1999