Scientific Literacy in Basic Education: An Analysis of Curricula Contexts and Pre-service Teachers’ Views in Tanzania

Abstract

This is an analysis of how scientific literacy (SL) is featured in the science education pipeline of Tanzania based on the SL frameworks of five arguments (economic, utility, democratic, social and cultural) and three visions (Visions I–III). It analyses four curriculum documents for science in basic education, and the views of 79 pre-service teachers collected using a questionnaire. The findings indicate that only economic and utility arguments are abundant in the curricula and pre-service teachers’ responses. Further, the findings show that Tanzania’s basic education science curriculum largely reflects Vision I, which emphasises content and procedural knowledge. Moreover, the curriculum is highly structured, thus making it difficult for teachers and students to engage in science-related situations (Vision II). The need to cope with the pressure exerted on teachers and students by high-stakes examinations adds to this difficulty. Generally, we establish that SL is not well featured in all the curriculum documents we analysed, as the pre-service teachers’ responses confirmed. We recommend that the curriculum be reviewed to include explicit reference to SL.