Science Education
My view of science tends to be a typical Western one, where previous scientific knowledge is used to build new scientific knowledge. In addition to the component of observation, research is used to determine a theoretical background before new scientific knowledge is built upon this basis.
When considering the indigenous perspective, one interesting thing to take into account is that this perspective does not necessarily need to clash with the Western one. Instead, the two approaches can complement each other, as pointed out by the Queensland Studies Authority (2012). According to this publication, Aboriginal and Torres indigenous peoples tend to derive knowledge about their world by primarily engaging in it. In other words, the main thing that contrasts this type of knowledge with the Western one is a tendency to use the physical senses to experience and observe the world, building knowledge upon this, rather than upon existing theoretical knowledge and research.
The implication of this for my classroom practice will be that I can use both approaches to point out the strengths of each and how these can enhance the experience of the other. In a study on shadow and light, for example, I can build a theoretical basis by asking the students to research what is already known about shadow and light. During the practice session then, I devise activities that engage all their senses, helping them to experience first hand what theorists have found out before them.
In the classroom, I will therefore demonstrate the invaluable contribution of both to new scientific knowledge and to the enjoyment my students can derive from their experience of the world.
2.
Science can involve many misconceptions, mainly as a result of an incorrect interpretation of a child's experience of the world. There can also be culturally specific, or simply the result of a child's own experience and socialization. Two specific misconceptions I addressed in my work were appropriate for the age group of students I am working with. Not being experienced in existing theory, for example, many students believe that light travel faster at night than during daytime, and that shadows follow people around and are created by the sun's reflection. My lesson is set up in such a way as to create both a theoretical basis and practical experience to test these misconceptions and either dispel or confirm them.
It is interesting to also investigate the misconceptions about shadow and light within different cultures. Algerian students, for example, find it difficult to cultivate an accurate understanding of the way in which light functions in optics. In other words, there may be some misconceptions about the role of light in creating a platform for seeing colored objects (Bizak, Chafiqi, and Kendil, 2009). This is also a concept about which my students might have some misconceptions, and I can therefore follow up my lesson about shadows and light with one about…
