Learner-centered science education / / Cliff Malcom, Rubby Dhunpath.

• Superior document: Cultural perspectives in science education. Distinguished contributors ; Volume 1
• VerfasserIn: Malcolm, C. K. 1943-; Dhunpath, Rubby,
• TeilnehmendeR: Dhunpath, Rubby,
• Place / Publishing House: Rotterdam ;, Taipei : : Sense Publishers,, [2008]; ©2008
• Year of Publication: 2008
• Language: English
• Series: Cultural perspectives in science education. Distinguished contributors ; Volume 1.
• Physical Description: 1 online resource.

This book arises from the author’s experience of the South African science curriculum development and teaching since 1994, exploring definitions of science and approaches to science education appropriate to a newly liberated developing country. Each of the 50 chapters is borne out of Cliff Malcolm’s close relationships with communities in SA where he obtained deep insights into their attitudes to science teaching and learning, providing him with an empirical basis to challenge tertiary institutions to transform their curriculum offerings to embrace the culture and world views of African students. The author makes a compelling case for the evolution of relevant science teaching and learning that provide ‘capital’ for indigenous knowledges. The book has relevance also to first world countries, because the social and educational problems facing South Africa, though starker here, are present in all countries. The book addresses, among others, the nature of scientific knowledge and knowledge production; how scientific knowledge can be accessed and represented; what counts as legitimate scientific knowledge in the South African context of colonization, liberation, inequity and African belief systems. The book extends the debates on “African” Science, and offers ways of talking and writing about science that reframe it, acknowledging problematics and pluralism, offering ways of bringing Western and African thought together. Using a richly descriptive novelistic style, the author sketches vivid portraits of his research sites, participants and experiences. His vignettes are embedded in deep theoretical insights, lending gravity to the development discourse in science education, providing a coherent language for the transformational agendas of science educators committed to the project of social justice through a relevant science.

Table of Contents

Preliminary Material / Rubby Dhunpath -- Transformational outcomes-based education? / Rubby Dhunpath -- The fish and the fly / Rubby Dhunpath -- Learner-centred education / Rubby Dhunpath -- Outcomes and outcomes / Rubby Dhunpath -- The matriculation camp / Rubby Dhunpath -- Begin at the middle / Rubby Dhunpath -- Ask Greg and Joanne / Rubby Dhunpath -- Pauline Hansen and the Devil’s bargain / Rubby Dhunpath -- Listening to the children / Rubby Dhunpath -- The technology of schooling / Rubby Dhunpath -- That’s not assessment, that’s teaching / Rubby Dhunpath -- Parallel lines that meet / Rubby Dhunpath -- Choosing the content of ‘Science’ / Rubby Dhunpath -- Teachers as professionals / Rubby Dhunpath -- The world as a machine / Rubby Dhunpath -- May you grow to be strong / Rubby Dhunpath -- Microcosm of a bigger world? / Rubby Dhunpath -- Humans began here / Rubby Dhunpath -- People make it happen / Rubby Dhunpath -- The personal nature of teaching and learning / Rubby Dhunpath -- Challenge, continuity and learning / Rubby Dhunpath -- One god, one true love, one right answer / Rubby Dhunpath -- In and out of the mainstream / Rubby Dhunpath -- Authority, power and learner-centred education / Rubby Dhunpath -- Shopping for a culture? / Rubby Dhunpath -- How much freedom do we give? / Rubby Dhunpath -- Does curry dissolve? / Rubby Dhunpath -- HIV/AIDS, the pandemic / Rubby Dhunpath -- Good tests are hard to write! / Rubby Dhunpath -- Which knowledge is persuasive? / Rubby Dhunpath -- Learning from children, little princes and frogs / Rubby Dhunpath -- Travelling to Brazil: the IOSTE Conference / Rubby Dhunpath -- Values, knowledge and science / Rubby Dhunpath -- Eclipsed / Rubby Dhunpath -- Science, science education and war / Rubby Dhunpath -- Science and beliefs in medicine / Rubby Dhunpath -- Science literacy in a diverse world? / Rubby Dhunpath -- Generosity, energy and power / Rubby Dhunpath -- My father is always right / Rubby Dhunpath -- Learning through work / Rubby Dhunpath -- Context, relevance and interest / Rubby Dhunpath -- More than tests can show / Rubby Dhunpath -- Creativity as essential learning? / Rubby Dhunpath -- Successful science is not in the genes / Rubby Dhunpath -- How I like to learn / Rubby Dhunpath -- Teachers’ motivations / Rubby Dhunpath -- When beliefs and knowledge are not enough / Rubby Dhunpath -- Unplugged / Rubby Dhunpath -- Problems with identity / Rubby Dhunpath -- Coming home / Rubby Dhunpath.