Values in Science and in Science Education
Résumé
We call values that which founds a judgment (good or bad, important or not, right or wrong, true or false, beautiful or ugly, expensive or cheap, ...). After giving some definitions, this paper analyzes the values that are identifiable inside science, and then inside science education. The value of science comes from its economical and political importance, but science seeks the truth by observing important values: a scientist must be honest, modest, always critical, rejecting any dogmatism and any fraud, but also creative, imaginative and able to work collectively. Nevertheless, a scientist is a human being with emotions and ideologies often interfering with his/her work and results. Some examples are discussed. Science must be separated from religion but the values of science and those of ethics overlap (bio-ethics, citizen values). UNESCO promotes Education for All, even if there are still important inequalities among countries. The values of science education are analyzed, and developed furtheron the example of ESD (Education for a Sustainable Development). They are then analyzed in some images of science textbooks, showing implicit ideologies linked to the scientific messages. They are also identified through different pedagogical styles. The analysis of teachers' conceptions, through an international survey covering more than 8 000 teachers, reveals deep differences among countries, as well as opposite systems of values, in interaction with social practices and actual or out-dated scientific knowledge, illustrating the KVP model as is also the case throughout this paper.
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