Instrumentality, hermeneutics and the place of science in the school curriculum

James Donnelly

pp. 109-127

in: Fabio Bevilacqua, Enrico Giannetto, Michael R. Matthews (eds), Science education and culture, Berlin, Springer, 2001

Abstract

This article examines some key characteristics of science, under the headings of: the elemination of the personal&#003B; demarcation from ethics; and the denial of reflexivity. It relates these characteristics to an instrumental criterion of knowing, which, it is argued, is pervasive in science. The relationship between this complex whole and the interpretative emphasis within both science and the humanities is then examined. The article suggests that these characteristics may underlie the difficulties which science experiences in the curriculum, and that contemporary curricular innovations can be construed as an attempt to address these difficulties by introducing a more thoroughgoing personal, interpretative and humane dimension to the science curriculum. It suggests that there are severe limits to this project.