The Presentation Will Soon Begin

1. The Presentation Will Soon Begin A presentation to faculty and graduate students at Providence University, Shalu,Taichung, Taiwan March 2009

2. Cultural Borders Experienced by Most Students, But Invisible to Many Science Teachers Glen S. Aikenhead University of Saskatchewan Canada

3. My Presentation • Introduction • A Cultural Perspective • Relevant World of Everyday Events • Cultural Border Crossing • Teaching Science Well • Learning Science Meaningfully • Teacher as Culture Broker • School Science for Economic Development

4. Introduction Two major problems face science educators in all countries around the world: 1. How can we motivate, teach, and assess students in school science, so that “optimal results can be obtained for students’ individual development and for the benefit of society as a whole”? (Guo, 2007) and

5. Introduction 2. A contradiction exists between two goals for school science: the conventional goal to select and train elite students for science and engineering careers and the 21st century goal supported by a new worldwide consensus on school science: science’s relevance to events and issues in students’ daily lives, now and in the future

6. A Cultural Perspective 1. People live and coexist within many subcultures daily 2. People move or negotiate between different social settings, subcultures, and cultures: subculture social setting culture subculture social setting culture CBC 3. This is calledCultural Border Crossing

7. A Cultural Perspective school culture 4. Science classrooms – a subculture of school culture and of science Border Crossings science classes life-world culture culture of school science

8. A Cultural Perspective Science: 1. Every culture worldwide has a knowledge system that describes and explains nature 2. Euro-American cultures privilege “science” 3. Science itself is a culture – a subculture of Euro-American cultures – because it was created and has been sustained within a particular cultural milieu 4. A scientific cultural milieu conveys a scientific worldview

9. A Cultural Perspective 5. All cultures are made up of people who embrace values, myths, & ideologies • Communities of scientists • anthropocentrism • objectivity • Cartesian dualism

10. A Cultural Perspective School Science: 1. Values, myths, and ideologies • anthropocentrism • objectivity • Cartesian dualism • realism • positivism • scientism 2. Many students feel alienated by these values, myths, & ideologies. These students resist the culture of school science.

11. A Cultural Perspective school culture Border Crossings science classes life-world culture culture of school science

12. A Cultural Perspective Cross-Cultural School Science: 1. Students’ cultural identities & worldviews may be at odds with the culture of school science, to varying degrees 2. Most students experience a change in culture when they move from their life-world cultures into the culture of school science 3. For these students, learning science is a cross-cultural experience

13. A Cultural Perspective 4. These students will be more motivated and successful if they receive help when they attempt to cross cultural borders between their life-worlds and school science 5. This help comes from science teachers who act as culture brokers e.g. tours guides for students visiting the culture of science in school science classrooms

14. Conventional science content found in school and university curricula (often abstract academic) culture of school science Science content actually used by: people in science-related occupations & the public who cope with science-related events/issues A Cultural Perspective Science Content: Distinguish between: Science content is in both. To motivate students, choose science content from the right-hand side– the culture of everyday events.

15. A Cultural Perspective A cultural perspective is not theory. It builds upon: • educational soundness of relevant school science (based on evidence of student learning) plus • political reality: Who decides what is relevant? (determines the content to be taught)

16. Whodecides what is relevant? Relevant World of Everyday Events Typeof relevant content to be taught: • scientists / teachers > • employers/workers > • experts with public > • experienced public > • media > • students > • culture interpreters > • Wish-they-knew science • Functional science • Have-cause-to-know science • Need-to-know science • Enticed-to-know science • Personal-curiosity science • Science-as-culture

17. university scientists people in science-related occupations + the public coping with science-related events and issues Relevant World of Everyday Events Type of relevant content: Science content actually used by: • Wish-they-knew science • Functional science • Have-cause-to-know science • Need-to-know science • Enticed-to-know science • Personal-curiosity science • Science-as-culture

18. Functional Science Workers learn science on the job, in the context of use

19. Functional Science • Is a country’s economic development and well-being dependent on a work force that is strong in wish-they-knew science? No! • Economic growth depends much more on: • emerging technologies • industrial restructuring • poor management decisions • government economic policies

20. Have-Cause-to-Know Science Content chosen by science experts, who have interacted with the public on real-life problems relevant to science-related events/issues

22. Have-Cause-to-Know Science Researchers Law and colleagues (2000) in main land China developed ascience curriculum comprised entirely of have-cause-to-know science The Chinese science experts placed emphasis on a citizen’s capacity to undertake life-long learning

23. Cultural Border Crossing subculture social setting culture subculture social setting culture CBC

24. Cultural Border Crossing Teaching well = cultural transmission of the culture of science Meaningful learning = acquiring the culture of science Assumptions about cross cultural school science:

25. Cultural Border Crossing For students whose worldviews harmonize with a scientific worldview: no culture clash exists between a student's life-world culture and the culture of science But most students’ worldviews clash, to some degree, with a scientific worldview

26. Cultural Border Crossing school culture Border Crossings science classes culture of school science family culture + peer culture

27. Cultural Border Crossing Culture clash leads to either: a. assimilation into science – it rejects or marginalizes a person’s everyday thinking and replaces it with scientific thinking or b. playing Fatima’s rules – school games that allow students to pass their science course, or get high marks, without knowing the content meaningfully

28. Cultural Border Crossing No culture clash: borders are invisible – smooth transitions – students self identify with science Culture clash: borders must be negotiated – transitions can be tricky – students resist forming a science identity Anthropological research reveals a great diversity among students in every classroom

29. Cultural Border Crossing Summary of This Research Difference in cultures:Type of border crossings: smooth adventurous managed hazardous impossible 1.similar 2. somewhat different 3. different 4. diverse 5. discordant

30. Cultural Border Crossing school culture Border Crossings science classes culture of school science family culture + peer culture

31. Cultural Border Crossing smooth: Potential Scientists family peers schoolscience adventurous: “I Want to Know” Students family peersscience/school managed: Other Smart Kids family peers school/science hazardous: “I Don’t Know” Students family peers//schoolscience impossible: Outsiders family peers///schoolscience

32. smooth adventurous managed hazardous impossible Potential Scientists “I Want to Know” Students Other Smart Kids “I Don’t Know” Students Outsiders Cultural Border Crossing Summary Border CrossingType of Student

33. Teaching Science Well • Motivate students to cross into the culture of school science and become engaged • Be sensitive to differences between a student’s life-world culture and their perception of the culture of school science • Consider students’ capabilities to cross a cultural border into science (e.g. self-identity, resiliency, and capacity to think differently in different cultures) • Assist students as they attempt to negotiate those cultural borders–becomeaculture broker

34. Learning Science Meaningfully Learning meaningfully isculture acquisition a. For the few students who want it (5-10%),enculturationinto the scientific community b. For the other students, we must avoidassimilation(indoctrination) into science c. For all students,enculturationinto a society which is greatly influenced by science and technology What does this look like?

35. Learning Science Meaningfully Alternatives to assimilation and to playing Fatima's rules: a. ‘anthropological’ learning Students learn the content of relevant science, similar to an anthropologist learning the ways of a foreign culture

36. Conventional science content found in school and university curricula (often abstract academic) culture of school science Science content actually used by: people in science-related occupations & the public who cope with science-related events/issues culture of everyday events Learning Science Meaningfully Science Content:

37. Learning Science Meaningfully Alternatives to assimilation and to playing Fatima's rules: a. ‘anthropological’ learning Students learn the content of relevant science, similar to an anthropologist learning the ways of a foreign culture The culture of science is a repository to be raided, as needed, to makemeaning out of a science-related event. No science identity.

38. Learning Science Meaningfully Alternatives to assimilation and to playing Fatima's rules: b. autonomous acculturation Students borrow (construct) some content from science because the content appears useful. It may replace, or be added to, some of the students’ former ideas. Everyday thinking: a combination of common-sense thinking and some science thinking

39. Learning Science Meaningfully Learning asculture acquisition enculturationinto the scientific community (10%) enculturationinto the local, national, and global communities for all students ‘anthropological’ learningof science content autonomous acculturation of science content but this science content is relevant content a summary:

40. Learning Science Meaningfully A cultural and everyday-relevance approach to science teaching willchange the mission of school science: fromstudents acquiring isolated bits of abstract academic knowledge(wish-they-knew science) tostudents building a capacity tolearn how to learnscience for everyday situations, as the need arises – life-long learning (functional science, etc.) This mission is educationally sound

41. Teacher as Culture Broker • make border crossings explicit • acknowledge and build on students’ cultural identities • help students feel at ease in the culture of school science • help students resolve any cultural conflicts • promote verbal exchanges: • talk in their commonsense language & in science • know which culture you’re talking in • play in the culture of school science

42. Teacher as Culture Broker Commonsense everyday ideas Ideas in the culture of science force of a moving car momentum of an object Switching: language conventions concepts values ways of knowing assumptions about reality

43. Teacher as Culture Broker Teaching Outsiders Invitation to students to try out aspects of a new culture Teacher role: tour guide culture broker Teaching ‘I Don't Know’ Students Guided tours into the foreign culture of science. Science appreciation Teacher role: tour guide culture broker Teaching Other Smart Kids Academic bridges into the foreign culture of science Teacher role: travel agent culture broker Teaching Potential Scientists / ‘I Want to Know’ Students Apprenticeship into a comfortable culture Teacher role: coaching apprentices tour guide (when necessary)

44. School Science for Economic Development • capacity building in • learning howto learn, for example from learning: • functional & have-cause-to-know science • enculturation into local/national/global cultures • life-long learning for all students • enculturation into the culture of science for only Potential Scientists

45. School Science for Economic Development A cultural approach to school science allows us to see old problems in new ways. For example: • How to motivate, teach, and assess students so optimal results can be obtained for students’ individual development and for the benefit of society as a whole • How to resolve the contradiction between two goals for school science: • science for an elite versus science for all

46. The End Thank You