Ensino de ciências como prática social: relações entre as normas sociais e os domínios do conhecimento

Abstract

The idea of science as a social practice has been exposed by different researchers in the field and it's based on the philosophical conception of scientific activity as a social practice. Thus, in this understanding we consider that the construction of knowledge in the classroom occurs through social interactions. In this text, we try to expose the relations between science as social practice and the domains of scientific knowledge. In order to do so, we expose and discuss philosophical foundations about science as social practice from ideas of Helen Longino and on educational foundations on the domains of scientific knowledge in the classroom through the studies of Richard Duschl and David Stroupe. We understand that transposition of the social norms of scientific knowledge to the classroom implies the mobilization of all domains, because students are open to negotiating, i) understanding how they know what they know (epistemic), ii) reproducing norms, routines and values (social), iii) incorporating tools and resources in the process of legitimizing this knowledge (material), and iv) building the studied concept (conceptual). So, science as social practice is only sustained when the domains of scientific knowledge in the classroom are considered. We understand that the ideas presented throughout this article can contribute to studies in the area of research in Science Education about ways of evaluating actions and processes in which the curriculum and planning consider elements beyond the conceptual domain, bringing, therefore, openness for the explanation of science as an area of knowledge.