Constructivism, methodological pluralism, and teacher formation for natural sciences teaching

Abstract

Based on renowned authors of the Science Education area, this work intends to show that the constructivist background is not a unanimity in Natural Sciences teaching, both in the epistemological and ontological scopes. Thus, the following question was defined as the problem to be investigated: Would the Science Education authors’ criticism against the epistemological and ontological presuppositions and their pedagogical consequences, indicate that the knowledge for natural sciences teaching is supposed to be originated not only from strategies centered on the student, but also from a methodological pluralism? In order to answer this question, the following objectives were delineated: 1) to survey, analyze and complement several authors’ objections to constructivism in Science Education in the epistemological, ontological and pedagogical fields; 2) in possession of these criticism, and as a consequence of them, to propose Paul Feyerabend’s “methodological pluralism”. The methodological procedure of this work consisted of an exhaustive search for documents in the available literature, mainly books and scientific papers, and in the possession of these material, to carry out a theoretical reflection with the purpose of reaching the proposed goals. As a result, a science education is recommended along with its associated teaching methods, not connected to rigid and limited systems but ones that are open to criticism as well as to all new discoveries and innovative experiences in this area.