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Currents such as epistemological and social constructivism, postmodernism, and certain forms of multiculturalism that had become fashionable within science education circles in the last decades lost sight of critical inquiry as the core aim of education. In this book we develop an account of education that places critical inquiry at the core of education in general and science education in particular. Since science constitutes the paradigm example of critical inquiry, we explain the nature of science, paying particular attention to scientific methodology and scientific modeling and at the same time showing their relevance in the science classroom. We defend a universalist, rationalist, and objectivist account of science against epistemological and social constructivist views, postmodernist approaches and epistemic multiculturalist accounts.
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PHILOSOPHY, SCIENCE, EDUCATION AND CULTURE
Science & Technology Education Library VOLUME 28 SERIES EDITOR William W. Cobern, Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, USA FOUNDING EDITOR Ken Tobin, City University of New York, N.Y., USA EDITORIAL BOARD Henry Brown-Acquay, University College of Education of Winneba, Ghana Mariona Espinet, Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona, Spain Gü rol Irzik, Boğaziçi University, Istanbul, Turkey Olugbemiro Jegede, T he N ational Open University of N igeria, N igeria Lilia Reyes Herrera, Universidad Pedagógica Nacional de Bogota, Bogota, Colombia Marrisa Rollnick, College of Science, Johannesburg, South Africa Svein Sjøberg, University of Oslo, Norway Hsiao-lin Tuan, National Changhua University of Education, Taiwan SCOPE The book series Science & Technology Education Library provides a publication forum for scholarship in science and technology education. It aims to publish innovative books which are at the forefront of the field. Monographs as well as collections of papers will be published.
The titles published in this series are listed at the end of this volume.
Philosophy, Science, Education and Culture by
ROBERT NOLA The University of Auckland, New Zealand and GÜROL IRZIK Boğaziçi University, Istanbul, Turkey
A C.I.P. Catalogue record for this book is available from the Library of Congress.
ISBN-10 ISBN-13 ISBN-10 ISBN-13
1-4020-3769-4 (HB) 978-1-4020-3769-6 (HB) 1-4020-3770-8 (e-book) 978-1-4020-3770-6 (e-book)
Published by Springer, P.O. Box 17, 3300 AA Dordrecht, The Netherlands. www.springeronline.com
Printed on acid-free paper
All Rights Reserved © 2005 Springer No part of this work may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, microfilming, recording or otherwise, without written permission from the Publisher, with the exception of any material supplied specifically for the purpose of being entered and executed on a computer system, for exclusive use by the purchaser of the work. Printed in the Netherlands.
Dedication
To Jan and Sibel
TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgements INTRODUCTION 1 The Themes of this Book 2 The Aim of Education is Critical Inquiry
xiii 1 4
PART I: EPISTEMOLOGY AND EDUCATION
CHAPTER 1: 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6
SYNOPSIS OF PART I
19
BELIEF, LEARNING AND EDUCATION Beliefs and Language as (Nearly) Uniquely Human What is Belief? Learning and Its Independence from Critical Inquiry A Minimal Working Definition of Learning That Some Connections between Learning and Critical Inquiry Education and its Relation to Critical Inquiry
23 24 27 30 34
CHAPTER 2: KNOWLEDGE, EDUCATION AND CRITICAL INQUIRY 2.1 The Various Contexts of the Word ‘Know’ 2.2 Belief Again 2.3 Truth 2.4 The Definition of Knows That 2.5 Knowing Why: Explanation and Understanding 2.6 Learning, Te