Abstract
The chapter analyzes official curricula and textbooks of geology teaching in Portuguese secondary school (age 15–16). In epistemological terms, the study uses Ziman’s conceptualization of science construction and in sociological terms uses Bernstein’s model of pedagogical discourse. Methodologically, the study combines quantitative and qualitative methods of analysis. The results show that recontextualizing processes did occur within the curricula and between the curricula and textbooks. It influences teachers perceptions of the messages contained in these texts and may have consequences for their pedagogical practices.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
- 2.
Biology and Geology, although epistemologically distinct, have traditionally been part of the same discipline in Portugal (often but not always called Natural Sciences).
- 3.
The ESSA Group – Sociological Studies of the Classroom – is a research group of the Institute of Education, University of Lisbon. http://essa.ie.ulisboa.pt
- 4.
The general guidelines of the syllabus were divided into 44 units of analysis and the specific guidelines into 272. In textbook A 531 units were analyzed, 276 of which were part of the corpus of the textbook. In textbook B 426 units were analyzed, 360 of which were part of the corpus of the manual.
- 5.
The simple concepts correspond to concrete concepts proposed by Cantu and Herron (1978) and are those that have a low level of abstraction, defining attributes and examples that are observable. The complex concepts correspond to abstract concepts and “are those that do not have perceptible instances or have relevant or defining attributes that are not perceptible” Cantu and Herron (1978, p. 135).
- 6.
When a same unit of analysis contained references to several dimensions of science construction, each one of them was considered as a separate reference. When a same unit of analysis contained several references to the same dimension of science construction with different degrees of complexity, the reference with the highest degree was considered.
References
Anderson, L. W., Krathwohl, D., Airasian, P., Cruikshank, K., Mayer, R., Pintrich, P., Raths, J., & Wittrock, M. (Eds.). (2001). A taxonomy for learning, teaching and assessing: A revision of Bloom’s taxonomy of educational objectives. New York: Longman.
Aydin, S., & Tortumlu, S. (2015). The analysis of the changes in integration of nature of science into Turkish high school chemistry textbooks: Is there any development? Chemistry Education Research and Practice, 16, 786–796.
Bernstein, B. (1990). Class, codes and control. Vol. IV: The structuring of pedagogic discourse. London: Routledge.
Bernstein, B. (2000). Pedagogy, symbolic control and identity: Theory, research, critique (Revised ed.). New York: Rowman & Littlefield.
Brandwein, P., Cooper, E., Blackwood, P., Cottom-Winslow, M., Boeschen, J., Giddings, M., Romero, F., & Carin, A. (1980). Concepts in science: Teacher’s edition. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.
Calado, S., & Neves, I. P. (2012). Currículo e manuais escolares em contexto de flexibilidade curricular: Estudo de processos de recontextualização. Revista Portuguesa de Educação, 25(1), 53–93.
Cantu, L. L., & Dudley Herron, J. (1978). Concrete and formal Piagetian stages and science concept attainment. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 15(2), 135–143.
Castro, S. (2006). A construção da ciência na educação científica do ensino secundário: Análise do programa de Biologia e Geologia do 10.° ano. Dissertação Mestrado, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal.
Castro, S. (2017). A construção da ciência na educação científica do ensino secundário: Estudo do discurso pedagógico do programa e de manuais escolares de Biologia e Geologia do 10.° ano e das concepções dos professores. Tese Doutorado, Instituto de Educação, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal.
Cavadas, B., & Guimarães, F. (2012). Práticas inovadoras nos manuais escolares de zoologia. In J. V. Brás & M. N. Gonçalves (Eds.), O corpo: Memória e identidade (pp. 77–87). Lisboa: Edições Universitárias Lusófonas.
Clough, M. P., & Olson, J. K. (2008). Teaching and assessing the nature of science: An introduction. Journal of Science & Education, 17(2–3), 143–145.
DES, Departamento do Ensino Secundário. (2001). Programa de Biologia e Geologia: 10.° ou 11.° anos. Lisboa: Ministério da Educação.
Ferreira, S., & Morais, A. M. (2013). The nature of science in science curricula: Methods and concepts of analysis. International Journal of Science Education, 35(16), 2670–2691.
Ferreira, S., Morais, A. M., Neves, I. P., Saraiva, L., & Castro, S. (2015). Conceptualização da construção da ciência em currículos e manuais escolares. In Conselho Nacional de Educação, CNE (Ed.), Currículos de nível elevado no ensino das ciências (pp. 180–238). Lisboa: CNE.
Gall, M. D., Gall, J. P., & Borg, W. R. (2007). Educational research: An introduction (8th ed.). Boston: Pearson/Allyn and Bacon.
Hodson, D. (2014). Nature of science in the science curriculum: Origin, development, implications and shifting emphases. In M. R. Mathews (Ed.), International handbook of research in history, philosophy and science teaching (pp. 911–970). Dordrecht: Springer.
Irzik, G., & Nola, R. (2011). A family resemblance approach to the nature of science for science education. Science & Education, 20, 591–607.
Lederman, N. G. (2007). Nature of science: Past, present, and future. In S. K. Abell & N. G. Lederman (Eds.), Handbook of research on science education (pp. 831–879). Mahwah: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Matthews, M. R. (Ed.). (2009). Science, worldviews and education. Dordrecht: Springer.
McComas, W. F. (2014). Nature of science in the science curriculum and in teacher education programs in the United States. In M. R. Matthews (Ed.), International handbook of research in history, philosophy and science teaching (pp. 1993–2022). Dordrecht: Springer.
McComas, W. F., & Olson, J. K. (1998). The nature of science in international science education standards documents. In W. F. McComas (Ed.), The nature of science in science education: Rationales and strategies (pp. 41–52). Dordrecht: Kluwer.
Millar, R., & Osborne, J. (1998). Beyond 2000: Science education for the future. London: King’s College London School of Education.
Morais, A. M., & Neves, I. P. (2010). Basil Bernstein as an inspiration for educational research: Specific methodological approaches. In P. Singh, A. R. Sadovnik, & S. F. Semel (Eds.), Toolkits, translation devices and conceptual accounts: Essays on Basil Bernstein’s sociology of knowledge (pp. 11–32). New York: Peter Lang.
Morais, A. M., & Neves, I. P. (2016). Vertical discourses and science education: Analysing conceptual demands of educational texts. In P. Vitale & B. Exley (Eds.), Pedagogic rights and democratic education: Bernsteinian explorations of curriculum, pedagogy and assessment (pp. 174–191). London: Routledge.
OCDE. (2016). PISA 2015 Assessment and analytical framework: Science, reading, mathematic and financial literacy. https://doi.org/10.1787/9789264255425-en. Accessed 3 Dec 2016.
Osborne, J., & Dillon, J. (2008). Science education in Europe: Critical reflections. London: The Nuffield Foundation.
Taber, K. S. (2017). Reflecting the nature of science in science education. In K. S. Taber & B. Akpan (Eds.), Science education: An international course companion (pp. 23–37). Rotterdam: Sense Publishers.
Valverde, G. A., Bianchi, L. J., Wolfe, R. G., Schmidt, W. H., & Houang, R. T. (2002). According to the book: Using TIMSS to investigate the translation of policy into practice through the world of textbooks. Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers.
Vesterinen, V.-M., Aksela, M., & Sundberg, M. R. (2009). Nature of chemistry in the national frame curricula for upper secondary education in Finland, Norway and Sweden. NorDiNa, 5(2), 200–212.
Ziman, J. M. (1984). An introduction to science studies: The philosophical and social aspects of science and technology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Ziman, J. M. (2000). Real science: What it is, and what it means. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2018 Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Morais, A.M., Castro, S., Ferreira, S., Neves, I.P. (2018). The Nature of Science in Secondary School Geology: Studying Recontextualizing Processes. In: Prestes, M., Silva, C. (eds) Teaching Science with Context. Science: Philosophy, History and Education. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-74036-2_26
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-74036-2_26
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-74035-5
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-74036-2
eBook Packages: EducationEducation (R0)