Teacher learning in the STSE perspective through activities in science museums

Abstract

Education focused on Science, Technology, Society, and Environment (STSE) seeks to explore the interactions between science and society and promote critical and complex views of the processes of Scientific Literacy (SL). This perspective has been developed in actions and research in science museums, and experiences that promote STSE education are increasingly present in such places. In this article, we present the results of a study performed with 123 teachers who had an initial training on the STSE perspective and controversial themes in museums. This training was part of a course in their biological sciences licentiate undergraduate degree. In the courses, the teachers developed pedagogical activities to be carried out with primary school students and with the general public in museums, based on the assumptions established in the courses. The focus of the study was to understand the possibilities and challenges in the production of these activities. The research approach used was qualitative, with content analysis for the activities produced by teachers in training and their presentations in the classroom. As a result, we highlight the challenge of the teacher or mediator in addressing controversial issues without ending the discussion – that means, without taking a stand regarding the controversy.