Thomas Kuhn's impact on science education: What lessons can be learned?

Abstract

AbstractThomas Kuhn has had an impact in all academic fields. In science education, Kuhnian themes are especially noticeable in conceptual change research, constructivist theorizing, and multicultural education debates. Unfortunately the influence is frequently compromised by researchers having a limited understanding of Kuhn's original ideas, little exposure to the tradition of philosophical opposition to Kuhn's theories, and minimal appreciation of how Kuhn progressively qualified his initial “irrationalist'' views of scientific development. One lesson to be learnt is that the science education community should more seriously and effectively engage with on‐going debates and analysis in the history and philosophy of science. This is the same lesson that was learnt from the science education community's wholesale embrace of logical empiricism during the 1950s and 1960s. Another lesson is that there are powerful disciplinary, institutional, and subcultural barriers that mitigate against science educators seriously engaging with historical and philosophical scholarship. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Sci Ed 88:90–118, 2004; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/sce.10111