influences society, students should know enough scientific content and knowledge to distinguish science from non-science, so that they can critically analyse ‘science’ as it is presented in the media (DeBoer, 2000; Norris & Phillips, 2003).
There may never be clear agreement both between and within educational authorities and the scientific community about the extent and depth of the
scientific content to be taught in schools. This could be due to the nature of science, with its ever-expanding fields of study, and the continual discoveries and
advancements made through new technologies. However, this key element for developing scientific literacy is not determined by how many hours should be spent studying scientific theory in the classroom, or what topics/fields of science the lessons should contain. This key element is driven by the notion that Science students need enough scientific content to distinguish ‘science’ from ‘non-science’, when it is presented in a way that influences their world (for example, in the media). How much scientific content is enough for Australian students is difficult to
determine, as the ever-changing society that these students will encounter throughout their lifetime controls the extent of scientific content required.
content and knowledge, or potentially debating whether more or less content should have been included or excluded. To promote the development of scientific literacy, teachers can focus on a student-centred learning environment (Goodrum, et al., 2000), determining how to focus their teaching and curriculum planning around the current needs of their students. The Content Descriptors outlined by the Australian Curriculum: Science are seen to be broad enough to allow teachers and curriculum planners to focus on the important knowledge for their students at the convergence of a particular point in space and time. In fact, with such broad sweeping content knowledge statements, teachers could adapt their teaching content to move with current socio-scientific issues.
There are many ways in which this movement, away from scientific content and knowledge, towards current socio-scientific issues and scientific literacy, could be made. To begin, the current graphical representation by the Australian Curriculum:
Science document of the how the three strands of Science Understanding, Science
as a Human Endeavour and Science Inquiry Skills are interwoven could be improved. Figure Seven shows the current representation, as presented in the Australian
Curriculum: Science, and this graphic could potentially be misinterpreted by
teachers as valuing Science Understanding ‘above’ and ‘overarching’ Science as a Human Endeavour and Science Inquiry Skills, by both its position in the graphic and the size and space given to this strand. This graphic could maintain the current belief that scientific content and knowledge is the most important aspect of Science learning (Goodrum, et al., 2000), as seen below:
In comparison, the New South Wales Department of Education and Communities displays what could be a more accurate representation of the relationship between these three stands. This graphic displays how each strand contributes equally to science learning, as seen in Figure Eight below:
Figure 7: Graphic representation of the three stands of science learning, as presented by the Australian Curriculum: Science (ACARA, 2012f)
Figure 8: Graphic representation of the three stands of science learning, as presented by the New South Wales Department of Education and Communities (State of New South Wales through the Department of Education and Communities, 1999 - 2011)
However, this investigation proposes the modification of Figure Ten to introduce teaching for scientific literacy as the central factor of all three science learning strands. Such promotion of the central nature of scientific literacy to Science learning may assist teachers in understanding its place in their Science teaching. In addition, this graphic representation will hopefully clarify for teachers the equal contributions that each of the three strands presented by the Australian Curriculum:
Science make to science learning, as presented in Figure Nine below:
In addition to using this graphic representation to demonstrate the central nature of teaching scientific literacy, school curriculum planners and teachers are
recommended to view the Australian Curriculum: Science with limited weight given to the Content Elaborations. As stated, readers of a text will internalise other discourse moments (Chouliaraki & Fairclough, 1999), and so teachers can
traditionally assume all content information provided by a curriculum document is
Science
Understanding
Science
Inquiry
Skills
Science as a
Human
Endeavour
Teaching for Scientific LiteracyFigure 9: Graphic representation of the three stands of science learning, as proposed by this investigation
mandatory. However, if the curriculum is viewed with limited weight given to the Content Elaborations initially, teachers can be impelled to investigate how each Content Description relates directly to their students in the current social climate, they may come to see current events and socio-scientific issues that relate in their school context. This curriculum planning technique, of evaluating the content knowledge described against the current interests and societal context of the student, has also been recommended by the literature to help develop scientific literacy (Goodrum, et al., 2000).
A demonstration of how this technique of evaluating of the Content Descriptor against the current societal context of the students is now provided. In the Year Nine curriculum, the Content Description “Ecosystems consist of communities of
interdependent organisms and abiotic components of the environment; matter and energy flow through these systems (Australian Curriculum, 2011, p. 58)” is quite
broad and could cover a number of contexts. For example, in schools situated in urban environments, the Content Descriptor could be investigated through analysis of the impacts of housing developments on the local environment, and discuss the socio-scientific issues surrounding the construction of human-made ecosystems (for example, artificial canals and lakes). For schools with a focus on global perspectives in Science, this same Content Descriptor could be investigated through the context of global warming and climate change.
The three examples provided above demonstrate how Key Element One for developing scientific literacy could be taught through the Australian Curriculum:
Science. In each case, students can learn the mandatory Content Descriptor
outlined by the curriculum document, but would do so in a way that incorporates their context and interests. This can provide them with enough scientific content
around them, and should give them the opportunity to engage with the science presented to them by the society in which they live. Therefore, curriculum planners and teachers are recommended to approach the Content Descriptors of the
Australian Curriculum: Science with the intent to evaluate each descriptor against
the societal context of the students, to determine the amount of content that needs to be covered. This could ensure that teachers recognise the value of delivering scientific content to their students that is relevant and promotes scientific literacy. Therefore, this investigation recommends that curriculum planners and teachers view the Content Descriptions with limited weight given to the Content Elaborations, and that they should evaluate each Content Description against the societal context of their students, to determine that the amount of content to be covered is
appropriate for their students. To assist with the implementation of this recommendation, professional development strategies for teachers can also be introduced, to support teachers in moving from a curriculum plan that may value a traditional content-driven focus, to learning experiences that can value the societal context of science and promote scientific literacy (Goodrum, et al., 2000), which is important to science learning.