Meeting Them 'Where They're At': Critical Secondary School NoS Resource Development

Abstract

Although the Ontario government introduced STSE into the front matter of its curriculum more than twenty years ago, school science continues to focus on internal decision-making of science in rationalist realist perspectives. There are movements, such as STEPWISE, that aim to develop pedagogical tools to teach students and teachers about importance of external influences on science, as well as multiple other perspectives around the Nature of Science (NoS) (e.g., naturalist-antirealist views), but there are still disconnects between theory (resources) and practice (school science). The aim of this paper is to discuss a possible solution to this barrier through meeting teachers "where they're at". This solution includes designing pedagogical tools that introduce the diversity of perspectives of the NoS in internal decision-making in the sciences. This may further encourage learning about multiple perspectives about the NoS that may allow teachers to use these resources more confidently and further student civic engagement.