Muralidhar, Chandrika
(2021)
Democracy in the science classroom.
Learning Curve (9).
pp. 30-32.
ISSN 2582-1644
Abstract
There is one duty that is unique to India under Article
51A (h) that encourages the citizen to ‘develop the
scientific temper, humanism and the spirit of inquiry
and reform’.
How does a teacher of science view democracy in
her classroom? Does it play a role in defining the
approach to classroom teaching and learning? In
Dewey’s words, ‘If we were ever to be governed by
intelligence and not by things and by words, science
must have something to say about what we do, and
not merely about how we may do it most easily and
economically.’
What is it that Dewey means by ‘what we do’ in
science? The life that we lead outside the classroom
and its influence in shaping our perspective to
aspects of life cannot be ignored. Owens, Sadler
and Zeidler (2018), in a study, speak of the socio-
scientific issues that need to be brought to the fore.
A science classroom includes opportunities to seek
out trustworthy information, develop positions
concerning controversial issues, practice defending
those positions using scientific evidence and
respectfully evaluate alternative positions held by
others.
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