The Role of Values in Teaching and Learning Science

Abstract

This chapter explores the nature of science and different values that underpin science as a way of thinking and acting. While teachers and learners can interpret values differently, the focus of this chapter will be on:

• Building a shared understanding of values and how they may manifest in the science classroom;

• How such a shared understanding can be developed in teachers through professional learning opportunities;

• How professional learning involves experiencing reaching consensus from positions of difference and looks at the role this plays in new scientific knowledge being accepted;

• How values might be embedded in teaching and learning of science and the implications of this for teaching a diversity of students. Teacher reflections captured in the form of cases provide various examples which identify what inclusive practices might look like in primary and secondary classrooms.

Citation

Corrigan, D. and Smith, K. (2015), "The Role of Values in Teaching and Learning Science", Inclusive Pedagogy Across the Curriculum (International Perspectives on Inclusive Education, Vol. 7), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 99-117. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1479-363620150000007012