Conceptions and practices of natural science teachers in advanced training on the values of scientific activity in the STSE approach

Abstract

In science teaching, it is necessary to carry out deep reflections on the relationship between science, technology, values ​​and society, especially when these have become cultural elements that are integrated into various social contexts, especially in education. Reflecting the need to expand the axiological dimension of scientific activity in the educational field, resuming epistemic, contextual and non-contextual values ​​that inherently entail contemporary conceptions of science and the transformation of its educational practices, oriented to the development of technoscientific and citizen competencies, and comprehensive training. The aim is to describe how natural sciences teachers link axiological elements in educational practices from the Science, Technology, Society and Environment (STSE) approach. For this, the conceptions of several teachers belonging to a STSE research group at a university in the north of Brazil were investigated and systematized. It was approached from the qualitative-interpretive paradigm with a hermeneutic approach, using as an analysis instrument a semi-structured interview that integrates the relationship of science, values, STSE and teaching, complemented with an intervention in the form of a seminar-workshop that allows understanding the relevance of rationality axiology of scientific activity and the ethical dimension of science in the current school scientific field. Finally, some didactic-pedagogical orientations that teachers may have been constructed, and thus, favor the reconfiguration of science teaching, valuing the axiological plurality of scientific activity and STS relationships as important alternatives to promote a comprehensive vision of the science.