ABSTRACT

Science textbooks, as one of the main tools for school science education, contain knowledge and practices valued by Western epistemological culture. As those who (will) live in a world expanding from the westernized to the multicultural, students, regardless of their cultural/ethnic backgrounds, should be supported to critically understand and use science. This study, using Whiteness as a conceptual tool, examine whether and how textbooks present science in ways to support Korean students’ critical and cultural understanding of science discipline. Drawing on an exploratory content analysis of four kinds of Korean middle-school science textbooks, I identified and discussed three features of the textbooks’ presentation of science: 1) scientific phenomena relevant to Korean students’ lives; 2) English prevalence in scientific conceptualization; and 3) epistemic Whiteness. Collectively considering these features, I inferred Whiteness assumption underlying the textbook discourse. Implications were offered for classroom-science teaching and teacher education in South Korea.

摘要

科学教科书作为学校科学教育的主要工具之一，包含了西方认识论文化所重视的知识和实践。作为那些（将要）生活在一个从西方化到多元文化的世界中的人，无论他们的文化/种族背景如何，都应该支持学生批判性地理解和使用科学。本研究使用白度作为概念工具，研究教科书是否以及如何以支持韩国学生对科学学科的批判性和文化理解的方式呈现科学。通过对四种韩国中学科学教科书的探索性内容分析，我确定并讨论了教科书呈现科学的三个特点：1）与韩国学生生活相关的科学现象；2) 英语在科学概念化中的流行；和 3) 认知白度。综合考虑这些特征，我推断出教科书话语背后的白度假设。为韩国的课堂科学教学和教师教育提供了启示。