Abstract
‘Literacy’ and ‘science’ are power words and the interaction between them is of potential interest to people working at other boundaries between text and content, such as that characterising wider disciplinary literacy. ‘Scientific literacy’ has a deep enough literature base to support an attempt to build a model of these interactions. If robust, such a model could synthesise existing literature and resolve differences within a narrower range of journals. This quantitative review suggests such a model based on a wide review of previous literature and then challenges it by comparing publication patterns in premium international journals dealing specifically with research in science education. The emergent model comprises interaction between Use of, Engagement with and Access to science and its application revealed changes in publication patterns both within and between the five science education research journals surveyed. The use of power words can obscure, rather than clarify, discussions that lead to curriculum and pedagogical decisions. Robust models can resolve multiple components of a complex field and make it easier to understand for newcomers, easier to explain when change seems necessary to those more deeply involved, and then expedite the prediction of fruitful areas for further work.
Highlights
Abstract: ‘Literacy’ and ‘science’ are power words and the interaction between them is of potential interest to people working at other boundaries between text and content, such as that characterising wider disciplinary literacy
Models can aid in simplification of such contested fields and they have been the subject of considerable work
The analysis provides the basis for synthesis leading to the development of a conceptual model for scientific literacy, based on inferences from that wider literature
Summary
Words carry weight as well as meaning, and choices between them reflect a desire to communicate status as well as information. The repeated emergence of the word ‘literacy’ in curriculum deliberations illustrates its power. The debate leading up to the release of the English; Mathematics; History and Science curricula included the following contribution from the Australian Science Teachers Association (ASTA). ‘numerical literacy’, ‘visual literacy’ and others are commonplace and widely understood and accepted in education circles. Tensions in usage can slide into actual controversy between subject areas. This phenomenon has a long history within science itself, with implications for science education. This makes science education a fertile ground for the development of a model that could clarify discussions of literacy in other disciplines
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