Scientific knowledge and its social reproduction through education The case of Darwinian theory

Abstract

Science teaching has started from accumulated and valid knowledge in the scientific community trough the time, knowledge which is assumed and taught as immovable ideas and irrefutable truths. This is the case of Darwinism theory teaching, which is presented to the students without the social, politic and scientific context that carried out the constitution of this theory. These aspects if they were presented, they will encourage students to question and reflect upon the theory. Then, teacher plays an important role, because he or she is who socializes the knowledge and encourages the reflection and deepening of the theories. However, teachers end up explaining those theories according to their own perspective, and in evolutionary theories, teachers reinforce ideologies about the superiority of one specie over the other, becoming one the fittest for surviving. For this reason, it is necessary being awareness about the social, political and cultural aspects which are the base for the development of the scientific knowledge, taking in that way, elements of the history and the sociology that gave rise to the construction of the theories.