Asia-Pacific Forum on Science Learning and Teaching, Volume 10, Issue 1, Foreword (Jun., 2009)
Michael R. MATTHEWS
 History, philosophy, and science teaching: The new engagement
Previous Contents Next

Current Curricula Reforms

There are a number of elements in this contemporary engagement of HPS and science teaching.  By far the most significant is the inclusion of history and philosophy of science components in various national school curricula. 

The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) established in 1985 an extensive national study, Project 2061, to recommend an overhaul of school science.  In 1989, after four years of deliberation and consultation, the project published its recommendations in a report titled Science for All Americans (AAAS 1989). 

Science for All Americans contains 12 chapters giving the recommendations for school science of the National Council on Science and Technology Education.  Chapter One is on 'The Nature of Science'.  It includes discussions of objectivity, the mutability of science, the possible ways to demarcate science from pseudo-science, evidence and its relation to theory justification, scientific method, explanation and prediction, ethics, social policy, and the social organisation of science.  The intention is that these themes be developed and discussed within science courses and that pupils completing school science know something of them; the intention is not that the topics be added to science courses and HPS be substituted for science content knowledge. 

The introduction to Chapter Ten on 'Historical Perspectives' says: 'There are two principal reasons for including some knowledge of history among the recommendations.  One reason is that generalizations about how the scientific enterprise operates would be empty without concrete examples.'  It goes on to say that:'A second reason is that some episodes in the history of the scientific endeavour are of surpassing significance to our cultural heritage.  Such episodes certainly include Galileo's role in changing our perception of our place in the universe'.

Following the AAAS report, in the USA the first ever National Science Education Standards were published by the National Research Council in 1996 (NRC 1996).  They recognise the centrality of philosophical and historical knowledge in the teaching of science, maintaining for instance that students should learn how:

science contributes to culture (NRC 1996, p. 21);

Technology and science are closely related.  A single problem has both scientific and technological aspects (NRC 1996, p. 24);

curriculum will often integrate topics from different subject-matter areas … and from different school subjects – such as science and mathematics, science and language arts, or science and history (NRC 1996, p. 23);

scientific literacy also includes understanding the nature of science, the scientific enterprise, and the role of science in society and personal life (NRC 1996, p. 21);

effective teachers of science possess broad knowledge of all disciplines and a deep understanding of the disciplines they teach (NRC 1996, p. 60);

tracing the history of science can show how difficult it was for scientific innovators to break through the accepted ideas of their time to reach conclusions that we currently take for granted (NRC 1996, p. 171);

progress in science and technology can be affected by social issues and challenges (NRC 1996, p. 199);

if teachers of mathematics use scientific examples and methods, understanding in both disciplines will be enhanced (NRC 1996, p. 218).

These aspirations for science classrooms cannot be achieved without teachers who care about HPS and have some competence in it.  A position paper of the US Association for the Education of Teachers in Science, the professional association of those who prepare science teachers, has recognised this in its own recommendation that:

Standard 1d: The beginning science teacher educator should possess levels of understanding of the philosophy, sociology, and history of science exceeding that specified in the [US] reform documents.  (Lederman et al. 1997, p. 236)

In the United Kingdom, a group of prominent science educators, reflecting on Britain’s National Curriculum and the most appropriate form of science education for the new millennium, wrote a report with ten recommendations, the sixth of which said that: ‘The science curriculum should provide young people with an understanding of some key-ideas-about science, that is, ideas about the ways in which reliable knowledge of the natural world has been, and is being, obtained’ (Millar & Osborne 1998, p. 20).  In elaborating this recommendation, the writers say that ‘Pupils should also become familiar with stories about the development of important ideas in science which illustrate the following general ideas:

* that scientific explanations ‘go beyond’ the available data and do not simply ‘emerge’ from it but involve creative insights (e.g. Lavoisier and Priestley’s efforts to understand combustion);

* that many scientific explanations are in the form of ‘models’ of what we think may be happening, on a level which is not directly observable;

* that new ideas often meet opposition from other individuals and groups, sometimes because of wider social, political or religious commitments (e.g. Copernicus and Galileo and the Solar System);

* that any reported scientific findings, or proposed explanations, must withstand critical scrutiny by other scientists working in the same field, before being accepted as scientific knowledge (e.g. Pasteur’s work on immunisation).  (Millar & Osborne 1998, pps. 21-22)

As well as curricula and pedagogy, the field of science education research clearly manifests this engagement of HPS with science teaching.  This can be seen, for example, in the continued growth of the journal Science & Education which is subtitled: Contributions from History, Philosophy and Sociology of Science and Education.  This is now in its 18th year of publication; details can be found at:  www.kluweronline.com/issn/0926-7220.  It is associated with the International History, Philosophy and Science Teaching Group that was formed in 1987, and has held large and successful biennial conferences since that time (see  www.ihpst.org).   In 2009, there were 48,650 article-downloads from the journal’s web site, with 21% of the downloads coming from China (23% from the USA). The projected downloads for 2009 are 70,000. Given that the journal publishes just research related to the connection of ‘history and philosophy of science with pedagogical, curricula, and theoretical issues in science education’, these download figures indicate a huge research interest in the field of HPS and science teaching.   

The range of connections between HPS and science education research can be seen in the titles of the thematic special issues of the journal that have been published.  These include: 

1994, ‘Science and Culture’, Science & Education 3(1).

1995, ‘Hermeneutics and Science Education’, Science & Education 4(2).

1996, ‘Religion and Science Education’, Science & Education 5(2).

1997, ‘Philosophy and Constructivism in Science Education’, Science & Education 6(1-2).

1997 ‘The Nature of Science and Science Education’, Science & Education 6(4).

1999, ‘Values in Science and in Science Education’, Science & Education 8(1).

1999, ‘Galileo and Science Education’, Science & Education 8(2).

1999, ‘What is This Thing Called Science?’, Science & Education 8(4)

1999, ‘Children’s Theories and Scientific Theories’, Science & Education 8(5).

2000, ‘Thomas Kuhn and Science Education’, Science & Education 9(1-2).

2000, ‘Constructivism and Science Education’, Science & Education 9(6).

2003, ‘History, Philosophy and the Teaching of Quantum Theory’, Science & Education 12(2-3)

2004, ‘Science Education and Positivism: A Reevaluation’, Science & Education 13(1-2)

2004, ‘Pendulum Motion: Historical, Methodological and Pedagogical Aspects’, Science & Education 13(1-2, 7-8)

2005, ‘Science Education in Early Modern Europe’, Science & Education 14(3-4)

2006, ‘Textbooks in the Scientific Periphery’, 15(7-8)

2007, ‘Models in Science and in Science Education’, 16(7-8)

2008, ‘Social and Ethical Issues in Science Education’, 17(8-9)

2008, ‘Feminist Philosophy and Science Education’, 17(10)

2009, ‘Politics and Philosophy of Science’, 18(2)

2009, ‘Constructing Scientific Understanding through Contextual Teaching’, 18(5)

2009, ‘Science, Worldviews and Education’, 18(6-7)

2010, ‘Darwinism and Education’, 19(4-6)

(All articles in these thematic issues can be downloaded from the above journal web site.)

Copyright (C) 2009 HKIEd APFSLT. Volume 10, Issue 1, Foreword (Jun., 2009). All Rights Reserved.