Preconceptions of science shared by students from a public rural school in Brazil

Sousa, Rosielson Soares de; Silva, Wagner Rodrigues; Brito, Cristiane Carvalho de Paula

doi:10.1590/S1678-4634202349249915eng

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ARTICLES • Educ. Pesqui. 49 • 2023 • https://doi.org/10.1590/S1678-4634202349249915eng copy

Preconceptions of science shared by students from a public rural school in Brazil ^* * English version by Igor Antonio Lourenço da Silva. The authors take full responsibility for the translation of the text, including titles of books/ articles and the quotations originally published in Portuguese.

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Abstract

This article aims at discussing discursive representations of science shared by students from a 7th-grade class at a rural school in the Northern Region of Brazil. The research draws on discourse perspectives of language and Applied Linguistics-oriented science education studies based on theoretical assumptions of science teaching and literacy studies. Data consist of semi-structured interviews with nine students, all of which were transcribed and organised into discursive sequences pointing to enunciative patterns. Their utterances evoke two major discourses: a “dominant science discourse”, which represents science practices associated with the natural sciences and excludes the social sciences and language studies; and a “copying discourse”, which relates to typical school tasks, such as research tasks that assume students’ learning through information copying. The present analyses contribute to challenging naturalised discourses about science in basic education and eventually to fostering science education for and amongst the social actors at school. A critical approach to teaching (one based on various research practices) can help students find meaning in the instructional contents addressed in the various curricular activities.

Keywords
Discourse; Elementary School; Science Education

Set 01
Dominant Science Discourse / Copying Discourse
DS1	TR: what does science mean to you? o que você entende por ciência? (Q1P1R30) RL: ((thinking)) (09’35” – 09’56”)
DS2	TR: it’s your opinion -- you can give your own answer, have you heard the word science before? é a sua opinião -- você pode dar sua resposta, você já ouviu a palavra ciência antes? (Q1P1R31) RL: I have!! já!!
DS3	TR: and what does the word science mean to you? e o que que você entende da palavra ciência? (Q1P1R32) RL: that it studies the lives of animals and plants and other things. é que estuda as vidas dos animais e das plantas e de outras coisas.
DS4	TR: and the word research? (...) what have you heard about the word research? e a palavra pesquisa? (...) o que que você já ouviu falar da palavra pesquisa? (Q1P1R33) RL: ((thinking)) (10’26” – 10’33”)
DS5	TR: what is research to you? o que é pesquisa para você? (Q1P1R34) RL: research is searching for things we don’t know on the Internet. pesquisa é procurar na internet as coisas que a gente não sabe.
DS6	TR: How cool ((laughs)) have you ever participated in any research activity at school (...) not necessarily in this one, as you said you hadn’t studied here before (...) in other schools, have you ever... have you ever done research? Que legal ((risos)) você já participou de alguma atividade de pesquisa na escola (...) não necessariamente nessa, que você disse que não estudava aqui antes (...) em outras escolas, você já... você já fez pesquisa? (Q1P1R36) RL: I have!! já!!
DS7	TR: and what kind of research have you done? e que tipo de pesquisa você já fez? (Q1P1R37) RL: looking up words we don’t know -- in, in the dictionary or on the Internet. pesquisar palavras que a gente não conhece -- no, no dicionário ou na internet.
DS8	TR: is just this research that you’ve done? só essa pesquisa que você já fez? (Q1P1R38) RL: yeah!! sim!!

Set 02
Dominant Discourse
DS9	TR: what does science mean to you, the word science, what do you understand as science? o que que você entende por ciência, a palavra ciência, o que você entende por ciência? (Q1P8R29) DR: ((pause)) ((nods in denial)) Lots of things! How can people say... like, these days... that the Earth was square, but no, the Earth is round. In my suggestion, the Earth is round. Muitas coisas! Como que o povo fala... esses dias assim... que a Terra era quadrada, mas não, a Terra é redonda. Na minha sugestão, a Terra é redonda.
DS10	TR: but what is research to you? mas, o que é pesquisa pra você? (Q1P8R31) DR: research is when we research something that we aren’t familiar with. That’s when we [inaudible] till we understand. When we understand, we already know more or less of the text. The text about the research. pesquisa é quando a gente pesquisa assim uma coisa que a gente não entende. É quando a gente [inaudível] até entender. Quando a gente entende, a gente já sabe mais ou menos o texto. O texto sobre a pesquisa.
DS11	TR: it was not recorded. What does research mean to you? não saiu gravado. O que você entende por pesquisa? (Q1P8R32) DR: When we research, and we learn more about a text. When we don’t know the text, we go there and google it, and then we learn more about the text. Quando a gente pesquisa, e a gente aprende mais sobre um texto. Quando a gente não sabe o texto, a gente vai lá e pesquisa no Google e aí a gente aprende mais sobre o texto.
DS12	TR: Have you ever done any research activity at school? If you’ve already participated in any, could you please say what was it? você já fez alguma atividade de pesquisa na escola? Se você já participou, diga qual foi? (Q1P8R33) DR: I have! I have participated in a Portuguese activity and in a theatre activity. já! Já participei de português e na de teatro.
DS13	TR: What was this research like? como foi essa pesquisa? (Q1P8R31) DR: good... We learned more, and the guys ^* * Other students. learned more! boa... A gente aprendeu mais, e os meninos aprenderam mais! TR: very good! Thank you, alright, DR. muito bem! Obrigada, tá bom, DR.

Set 03
Copying Discourse
DS14	TR: and research, what is this? e pesquisar é o que? (Q1P5R37) ML: research is when you have to read, do these things and then you provide an answer turning it into research. pesquisar é você ter que ler, fazer essas coisas e daí você formula uma resposta fazendo que isso seja uma pesquisa.
DS15	TR: have you ever participated in any research activity? você já participou de alguma atividade de pesquisa? (Q1P5R38) ML: I have, but it was in other classes... in Portuguese it is more difficult. já, mas foi em outras aulas... em português é mais difícil.
DS16	TR: what were these research activities like? como eram essas atividades de pesquisa? (Q1P5R39) ML: the teacher told us to research this, this, and that. Then we researched and handed in the activity to her the other day. a professora falava para a gente pesquisar isso, isso e aquilo. Aí a gente pesquisava e dava a atividade para ela no outro dia.

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[1] ^*
English version by Igor Antonio Lourenço da Silva. The authors take full responsibility for the translation of the text, including titles of books/ articles and the quotations originally published in Portuguese.

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Preconceptions of science shared by students from a public rural school in Brazil * * English version by Igor Antonio Lourenço da Silva. The authors take full responsibility for the translation of the text, including titles of books/ articles and the quotations originally published in Portuguese.

Abstract

Preconceptions of science shared by students from a public rural school in Brazil ^* * English version by Igor Antonio Lourenço da Silva. The authors take full responsibility for the translation of the text, including titles of books/ articles and the quotations originally published in Portuguese.