PHENOMENOLOGICAL AND HERMENEUTICAL INFLUENCES OF JAMES F. DONNELLY ON THE CURRICULUM, TEACHING AND THE WAY OF BEING-WITH IN SCIENCE EDUCATION

Abstract

In this text, we continue the research program of mapping the tradition of Hermeneutics in Science Education. We focus on articles from the work of James F. Donnelly with phenomenological and hermeneutical foundations, especially in Martin Heidegger. We present the study of Donnelly's work with a focus on the contribution of phenomenology and hermeneutics to problematize the instrumental character given to the Science curriculum derived from the characteristics of science: the absence of a personal character, of demarcation based on ethics and the absence of reflexivity. Furthermore, these characteristics can make Science Teaching difficult. Curricular innovations can reduce these difficulties by including teaching that considers personal, interpretative and human dimensions in the Science curriculum. However, Donnelly criticizes innovations that blur characteristics of the nature of science. He suggests that the transformations of teachers' practices and theories need to be analyzed within the tradition in communities of practice, thus opposing curricular reforms in which teachers do not participate in their elaboration. The relevance of Donnelly's reflections leads us, even almost three decades later, to question our way of being Science teachers, paying attention to ethical and curricular issues, and the educational traditions that we perpetuate in our science classrooms.