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Defining “science” in a multicultural world: Implications for science education
Author(s) -
Cobern William W.,
Loving Cathleen C.
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
science education
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.209
H-Index - 115
eISSN - 1098-237X
pISSN - 0036-8326
DOI - 10.1002/1098-237x(200101)85:1<50::aid-sce5>3.0.co;2-g
Subject(s) - science education , multiculturalism , multicultural education , philosophy of science , science, technology, society and environment education , sociology , pedagogy , mathematics education , engineering ethics , psychology , epistemology , philosophy , engineering
In today's schools there are often competing accounts of natural phenomena, especially when schools are located in multicultural communities. There are also competing claims about what counts as science. This article examines the definition of science put forward from multicultural perspectives in contrast to a universalist perspective on science; that is, the Standard Account. The article argues that good science explanations will always be universal even if indigenous knowledge is incorporated as scientific knowledge. What works best is still of interest to most, and although one may hate to use the word hegemony, Western science would co‐opt and dominate indigenous knowledge if it were incorporated as science. Therefore, indigenous knowledge is better off as a different kind of knowledge that can be valued for its own merits, play a vital role in science education, and maintain a position of independence from which it can critique the practices of science and the Standard Account. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Sci Ed 85: 50–67, 2001.