Proposal Format: Extended Summary / Oral

STSE Education in Continuing Education for Science Teachers in the Final Years of
Elementary School in Public Network of Paraná State

Abstract

This article outlines STSE Education (Science, Technology, Society and Environment) in Science
teaching in the final years of the Elementary School, in the formative speech of the Department
of Education and Sport of Paraná (SEED/PR). Pertinent to these designs, assumptions and
currents of STSE Education were highlighted. This investigation encompassed the analysis of two
videos, made available on the Teacher's Channel, on Youtube, in 2020, and three curriculum
policy documents linked to the propositions of SEED/PR. These materials were evaluated
according to Content Analysis, in which there was no explicit mention of STSE Education in
Science teaching. However, assumptions of STSE Education permeate the discursive content of
these materials. The feasibility of inserting STSE Education designs in educational processes in
Sciences, in the final years of Elementary School, in the public network of Paraná State, in
conjunction with guidelines of the National Common Curricular Base (BNCC), Paraná Curricular
Reference and Paraná State Regional Curriculum (CREP), was evidenced. However, the demand
for continuing education of Science teachers is highlighted, with a STSE Education approach,
regarding constructing a more egalitarian and just society and informed decision-making.

Expanded Abstract

In the last two years, humanity has known and has lived with a new virus (Coronavirus - COVID-
19), which has altered social relations, impacting Science, Technology, Society and Environment
(STSE). In this conjuncture of changes, news and studies, the Digital Technologies of Information
and Communication (TDIC) figured as means for social interaction, constituting a promising
alternative in the scope of the continuing education of teachers.

Understanding the interrelationships between STS(E) is essential for constructing a more just
and egalitarian society (Gallagher, 1971, as cited in Pedretti & Nazir, 2011). STS(E) Education's
scope is intended to deconstruct myths of the neutrality of science and the salvationist posture
attributed to it and promote informed decision-making (Santos & Mortimer, 2000; Azevedo et
al., 2013). Pedretti and Nazir (2011), in an analysis of publications involving STS/STSE Education,
over 40 years, highlighted six currents: application/design (creation or modification of
technologies to solve problems); historical (context associated with scientific productions and
practices); logical reasoning (decision making including analysis of empirical evidence); centered
on values (decision making aggregating ethical and moral reasoning); sociocultural (context
underlying science and technology); socio-ecojustice (action to criticize and solve social and
environmental problems). However, not all teachers incorporate STSE Education designs in their
Science classes to relate to curricular practices and contents, substantiating demands for the
continuing education of teachers (Vieira, 2003, as cited in Azevedo et al., 2013).

In this work, the public network of Paraná State is highlighted within the Department of
Education and Sport of Paraná (SEED/PR). With the suspension of face-to-face classes, SEED/PR
provided the recording and transmitting of classes of all curricular components to the entire
network (via Aula Paraná app, Youtube channel, and open television channels). The teacher-
student interaction was done with digital resources linked to Google Workspace for Education

XX IOSTE International Symposium 2022

accounts (Google Classroom, Google Meet, among others). Without previous training for using
these resources by those involved, SEED/PR's alternative was to make lives available on
Youtube, on the Teacher's Channel, for the transfer of information and curricular and
technological training.

Specifically, in this investigation, two videos were analyzed, aimed at continuing education
involving Science teachers, in the year 2020, concerning the beginning of the period of
suspension of face-to-face classes, available on the Teacher's Channel, on Youtube. The
curriculum policy documents also make up a set under analysis: National Curricular Common
Base (BNCC) (Brasil, 2017), Paraná Curricular Reference (Paraná, 2018) and Paraná State
Regional Curriculum (CREP) of Science (Paraná, 2019), linked to the SEED/PR guidelines. The
appreciation of these materials reports to the Content Analysis (Bardin, 2016). In these analyses,
outlines are evidenced about the assumptions and currents of STSE Education, explained by
Pedretti and Nazir (2011), and articulations with BNCC, Paraná Curricular Reference, and CREP
are made explicit.

The first video highlights technologies, as in the following excerpt: “Education can be immensely
benefited by technology, through which it is possible to obtain an increase in quality, advances
on equity of access to studies and contemporaneity in learning”. This excerpt allows the
question: has technology really promoted equity in access to studies? Regarding the socio-
ecojustice current, it would be interesting to plan and implement actions that address the
situations experienced during the pandemic, such as the digital exclusion of poor students,
among other topics, in line with science content.

In the way of the current of logical reasoning, approximations to the curricular approach,
expressed in the documents of curricular policies, allocating the student as protagonist, are
pointed out. Aikenhead (1991, as cited in Pedretti & Nazir, 2011) correlates logical reasoning to
the organization of science curricula about themes involving STS(E). In this direction, the video
presenter's expression about the student's role is denoted: “he builds his own knowledge
mediated by the technological apparatus with pedagogical intentionality. As the protagonist of
the teaching and learning process, the student starts from the search and will arrive at the
discussion of the theme and, consequently, greater autonomy”.

In the video, although there is no explicit mention of CTSA Education, elements of this aspect
are identified, highlighting the current of logical reasoning, with allusion to the role of the
protagonist student. In that production, the importance of the Science discipline is highlighted
in the citizenship education of students. This aspect is widely defended in several currents of
STSE Education. It should be noted that neither the BNCC nor the CREP explicitly present the
STSE approach as a proposal. At BNCC, Antunes Junior et al. (2020) highlight aspects of a
traditional and content approach.

In the second video, entitled “Paraná State Regional Curriculum (CREP) - Science,” the presenter
highlights the ten general competencies and the eight competencies of Natural Sciences of the
BNCC, targeting Science in the final years of Elementary School. CREP Sciences refers to the
minimum content required by the BNCC, with regional insertions. In the discursive course of the
video, elements correlated to STSE Education were evidenced, adding the intention to promote
informed decision-making.

In this direction, the Paraná Curricular Reference asserts the urgency of providing training
opportunities for students with access to scientific-technological culture and that they can
develop:

XX IOSTE International Symposium 2022

[...] responsibilities, reflect, and critically discuss the production, social construction, and
use of technology daily according to their social context. In the area of Natural Sciences,
the teaching-learning process should lead the student to an understanding of how
science and technology are produced, emphasizing them to obtain knowledge about the
world in which opportunities for the interpretation of natural phenomena are offered,
to establish human relationships with the environment and technology and thus
understand aspects of the evolution and care of human life, biodiversity and the planet.
(Paraná, 2018, p. 304).

Correlations between the specific competencies of the BNCC in Natural Sciences, CREP, and
Paraná Curricular Reference with STSE Education were noted. In this scenario, the urgency of
approaching problematizing issues is highlighted for a critical analysis of real local problems
(Santos, 2008), which involve STSE.

Alluding to the analyzes undertaken, it is noted that, within the scope of the public network of
Paraná State, adding strong guidance from the BNCC, elements linked to STSE Education coexist,
which make up the discursive path of the analyzed materials. Among proposals for continuing
education actions, it is suggested to problematize the guidelines of curricular policy documents
in reference to the assumptions of STSE Education. Also noteworthy are the TDIC, such as the
videos made available on Youtube channels, to provide teachers with actions linked to
permanent training with a focus on STSE Education.

References

Antunes Junior, E. l. Q., Cavalcanti, CJH, & Ostermann, F. (2020). National Curricular Common
Base, Natural Sciences in the final years of elementary school and the myths about Science,
Technology and Society. In Open, 33(107), 141-154.

Azevedo, ROM, Ghedin, E., Silva-Forsberg, MC, & Gonzaga, AM (2013) Socio-scientific issues with
a CTS approach in the education of Science teachers: a perspective of complementarity.
Amazon: Journal of Science and Mathematics Education, 9(18), 84-98.

Bardin, L. (2016). Content analysis. Editions 70.

Brazil (2017). Ministry of Education. Common National Curriculum Base. MEC

Paraná (2018). Paraná Curriculum Framework: principles, rights and guidelines. SEED/PR

Paraná (2019). Curriculum of the Paraná State Network (CREP). SEED/PR

Pedretti, E., & Nazir, J. (2011). Currents in STSE Education: Mapping a Complex Field, 40 Years
On. Currents in STSE Education: Mapping a Complex Field, 40 Years On. Science Education,
95(4), 601-626.

Santos, WLP (2008). Humanistic scientific education in a Freirean perspective: rescuing the role
of STS teaching. Alexandria: Journal of Science and Technology Education, 1(1), 109-131.

Santos, WLP, & Mortimer, EF (2000). An analysis of theoretical assumptions of the CTS (Science-
Technology-Society) approach in the context of Brazilian education. Essay - Research in
Science Education, 2(2), 110-132.

XX IOSTE International Symposium 2022