How Grade R Pupils Make Sense of the 'Scientist' and 'Science'

Autor/inn/en	Ramnarain, Umesh; Nkhase, Senoelo
Titel	How Grade R Pupils Make Sense of the 'Scientist' and 'Science'
Quelle	In: South African Journal of Childhood Education, 1 (2011) 2, S.143-157 (15 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext kostenfreie Datei Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	2223-7674
Schlagwörter	Foreign Countries; Scientists; Sciences; Urban Schools; Blacks; Socioeconomic Influences; Private Schools; Public Schools; Semiotics; Children; Scientific Concepts; Educational Quality; Science Education; Racial Discrimination; Early Childhood Education; Young Children; Freehand Drawing; Student Attitudes; Institutional Characteristics; Comparative Analysis; Stereotypes; Knowledge Level; South Africa + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Ausland; Scientist; Wissenschaftler; Science; Wissenschaft; Urban area; Urban areas; School; Schools; Stadtregion; Stadt; Schule; Black person; Schwarzer; Sozioökonomischer Faktor; Private school; Privatschule; Public school; Öffentliche Schule; Semiotik; Child; Kind; Kinder; Quality of education; Bildungsqualität; Naturwissenschaftliche Bildung; Racial bias; Rassismus; Early childhood; Education; Frühkindliche Bildung; Frühpädagogik; Frühe Kindheit; Drawing; Zeichnen; Schülerverhalten; Klischee; Wissensbasis; Südafrika; Süd-Afrika; Republik Südafrika; Südafrikanische Republik
Abstract	In this article we report on the 'sense-making' by children of a 'scientist' and 'science'. We investigated these conceptions through drawings by using the Draw-a-Scientist Test (DAST) developed by Chambers. We conducted the research in two urban schools; a public school located in a low-income previously designated black (African) suburb, and a private school in an affluent suburb. In theorising on the sense making of a 'scientist' and 'science' by children from these diverse learning contexts, we examined the notion of 'semiotic mediation', which is a central idea in Vygotsky's work. The results of the study show that children in the previously designated black school have little or no conception of science or a scientist. The significance of these findings needs to be considered against the inequities in education, and in particular in science education in this country due to the apartheid system. Despite Grade R being the first year in the twelve-school career of children we believe that the findings of this study do signal that concerted steps need to be taken so that children develop stronger conceptions of science and a scientist. (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2020/1/01