Teaching Science as a Hermeneutic Event
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.11575/jah.v0i2.53201Keywords:
hermeneutics, education, secondary science, biology, philosophy, teaching and learning, curriculum studies, ecopedagogyAbstract
In this article, the author explores the need for science education to be taught as a hermeneutic event, as opposed to a book of facts to be memorized. The fragmented, passive transmission of facts does not allow students to have a clear understanding of science, its’ traditions and how science lives in the world. By reconnecting biology back into the world and recognizing its creativity and uncertainty will help students understand how science impacts their lives and the world. The author explores how, through hermeneutics, students can experience the living discipline of science, as opposed to learning about science.
References
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Friesen, S. & Clifford, P. (2003). Hard fun: Teaching and learning for the Twenty-First Century. In D. Jardine, S. Friesen & P. Clifford, Back to the basics of teaching and learning: Thinking the world together (pp 89-107). Mahwah, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Gadamer, H.-G. (1988). Rhetoric, hermeneutics, and the critique of ideology. In K. Mueller-Vollmer (Ed.), The Hermeneutics Reader (pp. 274-292). New York, New York: The Continuum Publishing Company.
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Gadamer, H-G (1996). The enigma of health: The art of healing in a scientific age. Palo Alto, California: Stanford University Press.
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Goldstein, J. (2011, March). It’s Not a Book of Knowledge…It’s a Journey. Key note presentation conducted at the National Science Teachers Association Conference, San Francisco, California.
Jardine, D. (2006). On hermeneutics: “What happens to us over and above our wanting and doing.†In K. Tobin & J. Kincheloe (Eds.), Doing educational research: A handbook (pp. 269-289). Amsterdam: Sense Publishers.
Kozoll, R. H., & Osborne, M. D. (2004). Finding meaning in science: Lifeworld, identity, and self. Science Education, 88(2), 157-181.
Lyons, T. (2006). Different Countries, same science classes: Students' experiences of school science in their own words. International Journal of Science Education, 28(6), 591-613.
McComas, W. F. (1998). The principal elements of the nature of science: Dispelling the myths. In W. F. McComas (Ed.), The Nature of science in science education (pp. 53-70). Netherlands: Kluwer Academic Publishers.
Orr, D.W. (2004). Earth in Mind: On education, environment, and the human prospect. Washington, DC: Island Press.
Smith, D. G. (1991). Hermeneutic inquiry: The hermeneutic imagination and the pedagogic text. In E. C. Short (Ed.), Forms of curriculum inquiry (pp. 187-209). Albany, NY: State University of New York Press.
Alberta Education (2009). Biology 20/30 Program of Studies. Edmonton, Alberta: Alberta Education.
Blades, D.W. (2001). The simulacra of science education. In J.A. Weaver, M. Morris & P. Appelbaum (Eds.), (Post)Modern science (education): Propositions and alternative paths. (pp. 57-94). New York, NY: Peter Lang Publishing, Inc.
Capra, F. (1996). The Web of Life: A new scientific understanding of living systems. New York: Anchor Books.
Crease, R. P. (1997). Hermeneutics and the natural sciences: Introduction. Man and World, 30, 259-270.
Davey, N. (2006). Unquiet understanding: Gadamer’s philosophical hermeneutics. New York: State University of New York.
Dewey, J. (1902). The child and the curriculum. Chicago Il: The University of Chicago Press.
Donnelly, J. (2002). Instrumentality, hermeneutics and the place of science in the school curriculum. Science & Education, 11, 135-153.
Friesen, S. & Clifford, P. (2003). Hard fun: Teaching and learning for the Twenty-First Century. In D. Jardine, S. Friesen & P. Clifford, Back to the basics of teaching and learning: Thinking the world together (pp 89-107). Mahwah, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Gadamer, H.-G. (1988). Rhetoric, hermeneutics, and the critique of ideology. In K. Mueller-Vollmer (Ed.), The Hermeneutics Reader (pp. 274-292). New York, New York: The Continuum Publishing Company.
Gadamer, H.-G. (1992). The University of Heidelberg and the Birth of Modern Science (L. Schmidt & M. Reuss, Trans.). In D. Misgeld & G. Nicholson (Eds.), Hans-Georg Gadamer on education, poetry, and history. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press.
Gadamer, H-G (1996). The enigma of health: The art of healing in a scientific age. Palo Alto, California: Stanford University Press.
Gadamer, H.-G. (2004). Truth and Method (J. W. a. D. G. Marshall, Trans. Second ed.). New York, NY: Continuum.
Goldstein, J. (2011, March). It’s Not a Book of Knowledge…It’s a Journey. Key note presentation conducted at the National Science Teachers Association Conference, San Francisco, California.
Jardine, D. (2006). On hermeneutics: “What happens to us over and above our wanting and doing.†In K. Tobin & J. Kincheloe (Eds.), Doing educational research: A handbook (pp. 269-289). Amsterdam: Sense Publishers.
Kozoll, R. H., & Osborne, M. D. (2004). Finding meaning in science: Lifeworld, identity, and self. Science Education, 88(2), 157-181.
Lyons, T. (2006). Different Countries, same science classes: Students' experiences of school science in their own words. International Journal of Science Education, 28(6), 591-613.
McComas, W. F. (1998). The principal elements of the nature of science: Dispelling the myths. In W. F. McComas (Ed.), The Nature of science in science education (pp. 53-70). Netherlands: Kluwer Academic Publishers.
Orr, D.W. (2004). Earth in Mind: On education, environment, and the human prospect. Washington, DC: Island Press.
Smith, D. G. (1991). Hermeneutic inquiry: The hermeneutic imagination and the pedagogic text. In E. C. Short (Ed.), Forms of curriculum inquiry (pp. 187-209). Albany, NY: State University of New York Press.
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2013-03-08
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