Despite the long-standing interest among science educators in using history of science in science teaching, little has been discussed around whether and how non-Western histories of science could be incorporated into science education. This study considers some opportunities and challenges of addressing East Asian history of science (EAHOS) in the science teacher education context, drawing on postcolonial science studies and global history of science. Eight undergraduate preservice science teachers (PSTs) participated in sessions on EAHOS. Our aim was to investigate the PSTs’ perceptions relating to the nature of EAHOS and its relevance to science teaching. Using interviews and reflective essays, we explore the tension coming from their dual positions as science teachers and East Asian people as they entered into the unfamiliar territory of EAHOS. When they were considering themselves specifically as science teachers, they tended to focus on the aspects of EAHOS as knowledge and concluded that it has little to do with achieving the aims of science teaching because is not part of modern science. On the contrary, when they were talking about their roles as teachers in general, they were able to come up with several educational benefits that EAHOS can offer to students, particularly in its relation to worldview and history. Additionally, several mixed feelings were expressed about the way EAHOS is often portrayed as “our” history about “our” science. Overall, the experience of exploring and discussing EAHOS provided the PSTs with an opportunity to critically reflect on science education and their responsibility as teachers in the context of broader society and culture.

尽管科学教育者长期以来一直对在科学教学中使用科学史感兴趣，但关于是否以及如何将非西方科学史纳入科学教育的讨论很少。本研究利用后殖民科学研究和全球科学史，考虑了在科学教师教育背景下解决东亚科学史 (EAHOS) 的一些机遇和挑战。八名本科职前科学教师 (PST) 参加了 EAHOS 课程。我们的目的是调查 PST 对 EAHOS 性质及其与科学教学相关性的看法。通过访谈和反思性文章，我们探讨了他们作为科学教师和东亚人的双重身份在进入 EAHOS 陌生领域时所产生的紧张关系。当他们特别将自己视为科学教师时，他们倾向于将 EAHOS 的方面作为知识关注，并得出结论认为它与实现科学教学目标没有多大关系，因为它不是现代科学的一部分。相反，当他们谈论自己作为教师的一般角色时，他们能够提出 EAHOS 可以为学生提供的一些教育好处，特别是在与世界观和历史的关系方面。此外，人们对 EAHOS 经常被描绘成关于“我们的”科学的“我们的”历史的方式表达了几种复杂的感觉。总体而言，探索和讨论 EAHOS 的经验为 PST 提供了在更广泛的社会和文化背景下批判性反思科学教育及其作为教师的责任的机会。