Educating teachers for scientific literacy in Greece

Abstract

The main objective of this chapter is to show that in order to re orient science education towards the ideal of scientific literacy for all future citizens, the professional preparation of science educators has to be restructured. The first part of this chapter attempts to show how science and technology have, during the last two decades, permeated a growing number of public life domains such as citizenship, the labor market, culture, and so on. It is then argued that school science must follow this trend in order to help today's students become tomorrow's scientifically literate citizens. By the term 'scientifically literate citizens' we mean people who have a minimum understanding of the scientific content, method, institutional function and social impact of science and technology. In order for science education to start serving the objective of scientific literacy, the kind of science taught in schools must be thoroughly revised. The second part of this chapter explores the reasons for which such a change is required. In the third part, the basic claim is that such a reorientation in science education is impossible without the prior reorientation of the professional preparation of science teachers, which presently places more emphasis on the factual aspects of science rather than on such aspects as scientific method, or the social impact that makes science more recognizable in the public domain. In order for this claim to be further substantiated, the way science teachers receive their training in Greece is described and analyzed. In the last part of this chapter, an attempt is made to present an alternative to the existing framework, one which offers a sound basis for the restructuring of science teachers' education for scientific literacy. This alternative framework is based on the assumption that school science is not, as is currently assumed. a simplification of the total body of scientific knowledge, but that it is a recontextualized body of knowledge appropriately adjusted to the ways school functions.