TEACHING BIOTECHNOLOGY - IDENTITY IN THE CONTEXT OF IGNORANCE AND KNOWLEDGEABILITY

Citation
M. Michael et al., TEACHING BIOTECHNOLOGY - IDENTITY IN THE CONTEXT OF IGNORANCE AND KNOWLEDGEABILITY, Public understanding of science, 6(1), 1997, pp. 1-17
Citations number
38
Categorie Soggetti
Communication,"History & Philosophy of Sciences","History & Philosophy of Sciences
ISSN journal
09636625
Volume
6
Issue
1
Year of publication
1997
Pages
1 - 17
Database
ISI
SICI code
0963-6625(1997)6:1<1:TB-IIT>2.0.ZU;2-I
Abstract
This paper considers the sorts of identities constructed by biotechnol ogy teachers for themselves, biotechnology and their students. Drawing upon insights from critical studies of the public understanding of sc ience, we analyse teachers' views on biotechnology and the teaching of it. These views were partly derived from questionnaires and participa nt observation, though our main source of data were focus group discus sions. Our analysis shows that the teachers held ambivalent views abou t their role and biotechnology. For example, on the one hand, science and biotechnology are 'impure' in the sense of being part of the messy world of politics and ethics. Within this controversial domain, the t eachers saw their role as one of assuring 'balance' in which the stude nts are exposed to both pro and con dimensions of biotechnology. On th e other hand, science and biotechnology are 'pure', part of an idealiz ed realm in which useful scientific knowledge is produced. Biotechnolo gy thus was 'intellectually interesting in its own right'. We suggest that such ambivalence is not necessarily a problem, reflecting broader social trends.