On January 20, a new era in science education begins at noon in Washington, DC. I say this because newness in thinking has been brought to the Nation’s capital and is signaled by the inauguation of President Barach Obama. This new thinking will be inclusive and diverse. Let me explain.

Science at its core is looking around and trying to understand the world around us. Science inquiry is an inclusive concept, and means that many traditions have contributed to our understanding of the world, not just Western science. Aikenhead and Ogawa help us understand this principle in their work when they identify three diverse ways of understanding nature.

• An indigenous way: as the indigenous knowledge of people groups “native” to North America
• A neo-indigenous way: as depicted by many Asian nations’ unique ways of knowing
• Euro-American scientific way: as depicted by Western science

According to Aikenhead and Ogawa, each of these three ways of knowing is culturally-based, but that each of the cultures is heteogeneous. We see here that each way is a valid way of knowing, yet different in their ways of understanding the world.

Science teachers and science education researchers have made great strides in exploring a more inclusive view of science through work in multicultural science teaching, feminist and gender studies, and through the concept of “science for all.”

In the days and months ahead, the spirit that has come to Washington will spread throughout the nation, and to other countries. It is this spirit that will influence and change the way with think about and do science teaching.  That is my wish.

Resources:

Science as Inquiry—I book I wrote about a decade ago based on my travels around the country presenting seminars to science teachers and helping each other understand science as inquiry.

Science Education for Everyday Life—Glen Aikenhead’s important book on evidence-based practice and science teaching. Explores diverse ways of knowing as discussed above.