Science teaching: The CTS approach and the Interdisciplinary Island of Rationality (IIR)

Abstract

The present theoretical research, carried out through a bibliographic study, aims to stimulate the debate about a still unusual methodology, the Interdisciplinary Island of Rationality (IIR). In it, I share reflections on science teaching with an emphasis on the focus on Science, Technology and Society (CTS). I report that, when traveling between the paths taken by science teaching, I found some pedagogical concepts that guided and others that still guide the methodology, curriculum and practice of teachers. In search of a strategy that would satisfy my desires regarding teaching strategies that would make critical and participatory teaching possible, I continued the trip and landed on the CTS “platform”, where I was kindly invited to take shelter in that space. I accepted the invitation and set out to learn more about the ideas of those who were there; I enjoyed the knowledge of important characters; I learned a lot from the other participants and then decided, in the hope of also becoming a protagonist of this plot, looking for something different, that could help me find answers on how to make scientific and technological literacy effective. On that occasion, I was introduced to the Interdisciplinary Islands of Rationality. Complex strategy? Perhaps. However, very interesting and enriching. In this way, I dedicated myself to understand it better and, in this article, I share the findings of that pleasant stay on that “platform”, where I could consider that, in addition to being a challenging methodology, the CST approach and IIR show valuable results for the current scenario in the face of science education, which aims to train subjects capable of interpreting the world in which they live and make informed decisions regarding social problems that are also of a scientific nature.

Keywords

• ensino de ciências
• cts
• ilha interdisciplinar de racionalidade