ERIC Number: EJ1154463
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2017-Jul
Pages: 26
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0926-7220
EISSN: N/A
Earth at Rest: Aesthetic Experience and Students' Grounding in Science Education
Science & Education, v26 n5 p557-582 Jul 2017
Focus of this article is the current situation characterized by students' de-rootedness and possible measures to improve the situation within the frame of education for sustainable development. My main line of argument is that science teachers can practice teaching in such a way that students are brought in deeper contact to the environment. I discuss efforts to promote aesthetic experience in science class and in science teacher education. Within a wide range of definitions, my main understanding of aesthetic experience is that of pre-conceptual experience, relational to the environment and incorporated in students' embodied knowledge. I ground the idea of Earth at rest in Husserl's phenomenological philosophy and Heidegger's notion of science' deprivation of the world. A critique of the ontological reversal leads to an ontological re-reversal that implies giving lifeworld experience back its value and rooting scientific concepts in students' everyday lives. Six aspects of facilitating grounding in sustainability-oriented science teaching and teacher education are highlighted and discussed: students' everyday knowledge and experience, aesthetic experience and grounding, fostering aesthetic sensibility, cross-curricular integration with art, ontological and epistemological aspects, and belongingness and (re-)connection to Earth. I conclude that both science students and student-teachers need to practice their sense of caring and belonging, as well as refining their sensibility towards the world. With an intention of educating for a sustainable development, there is an urgent need for a critical discussion in science education when it comes to engaging learners for a sustainable future.
Descriptors: Aesthetics, Science Education, Science Instruction, Sustainable Development, Environmental Education, Earth Science, Prior Learning, Phenomenology, Philosophy, Scientific Concepts, Teacher Education, Science Teachers, Knowledge Level, Interdisciplinary Approach, Caring, Alienation, Scientific Principles
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A