Abstract
The current study aims to present textual resources, which could contribute towards a more epistemologically valid image of school science, and, by this way, to provide a more theoretically informed basis for the development of instruments for analyzing this image in school science textbooks. Thomas Kuhn in his renowned work The Structure of Scientific Revolutions argues that “textbook science” reflects almost always the dominant “paradigm” of the corresponding knowledge fields. In other words, school science (as in school textbooks) is presented as a static, finalized, and absolute consensual body of knowledge. However, a more realistic image of science, revealed by numerous studies inspired by philosophy and sociology of science (SSK), corresponds to a form of knowledge “in the making” which by definition is dynamic, often an object of negotiation and/or controversy not only within the scientific community but also between the scientific community and representatives of other social institutions (policy makers, peoples’ organizations, etc.). This image comes much closer to what citizens nowadays encounter in the public manifestations of scientific activity. The “textbook science” is rhetorically constructed through various textual techniques (e.g., nominalizations, prevalence of passive verbs, experiential iconism, low-modality expressions) in an attempt to present itself as a self-referenced monologue, withholding its textuality, i.e., the very fact that it is itself a construction. (The word “text” originates from the Latin word textum (verb texo) meaning “textile” (same origin) or construction consisting of interweaving pieces of wood. Thus, the word “text” carries connotations referring to an artifact constructed through combining various constitutive elements.) This rhetorical strategy naturalizes school science, making the processes for its construction completely invisible to students. Thus, every effort aiming towards a more epistemologically valid image of school science should contribute to the revelation of such a rhetoric strategy via the use of textual resources which make school science textbooks more polyphonic or at least less self-referenced. Such a kind of material by revealing its textuality could permit the student-reader to adopt a more reflexive approach towards science.
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Notes
- 1.
The term “discovery” is of great epistemological significance as it implies that scientific truths preexist and are waiting to be discovered. Conversely, terms such as “invention” or “results” openly imply the involvement and contribution of the scientific community and the construction of scientific knowledge.
- 2.
According to the theory of the “Steady State Universe” which was introduced in 1948, the universe is always in a state of constant density as the constantly emerging new material is balanced out by the process of cosmic expansion.
- 3.
According to the theory of the “Inflationary Universe” introduced in 1981, the universe at the initial stage of its evolution spent a brief period of accelerated expansion during which the light had the opportunity to spread throughout the forming universe. This theory addresses the weakness of the “Big Bang” theory (which paradoxically is also its experimental confirmation) to explain the uniformity of the cosmic radiation background in the universe as according to the latter, the light did not have the time to spread across all the areas of the universe which were formed. The “Inflationary Universe” theory includes the additional theoretical difficulty of predicting the existence of negative gravity during the first phase of the accelerated expansion of the universe.
- 4.
In the context of this strategy came the publication of the Stephen Hawking’s “Chronicles of Time,” an avid supporter of this theory. The book attracted the public’s interest in techno-scientific issues and revived editions of popularized scientific works and sold, according to Rodgers (1992), four and a half million copies worldwide.
- 5.
See the difference between “closed” i.e., stylized and formalistic, and “open,” i.e., not as standardized in terms of expression texts according to Eco (1979), or the corresponding focus on form rather than content of abstract art which creates the conditions for more open-ended interpretations according to Gombrich (1960).
- 6.
According to Shamos (1987), the reasons which led Galileo to adopt this model of writing was his effort to appear attentive and less absolute in the formulation of his positions because of the expected response these would generate but also due to his admiration for the work of Plato (out of 36 works of Plato, all but “Apology” are written in dialogue).
- 7.
This postscriptum is the only reflective type reference in a text that otherwise takes position in favor of integrating reflectivity as a process in the educational material.
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Dimopoulos, K., Karamanidou, C. (2013). Towards a More Epistemologically Valid Image of School Science: Revealing the Textuality of School Science Textbooks. In: Khine, M. (eds) Critical Analysis of Science Textbooks. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-4168-3_4
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