Relations between the Science Teaching Projects Innovation and the Scientific and Educational Policies in 1950s USA

Author(s)

Felipe Sanches Lopez

• Document type: Doctoral Thesis
• Press: São Paulo.
• Institution: Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Instituto de Física (IF/SBI)
• Defense date: 2024-06-28

Examining board members

Cristiano Rodrigues de Mattos; Juliano Camillo; Ivã Gurgel; Andreia Guerra de Moraes; Breno Arsioli Moura

• Advisor: Cristiano Rodrigues de Mattos

Abstract

We live in an era where innovation is in vogue, whether to express technological or educational transformations. In education, and particularly in Science Education, various innovations are touted as solutions to numerous problems faced by Science Education. In this doctoral research, we investigate the socio-cultural and historical conditions that allowed the creation and development of an innovative science teaching project. To identify these conditions, we investigated a historically significant case for Science Education in Brazil: the Physical Science Study Committee (PSSC), an American physics education project developed in the 1950s. Even today, the PSSCs influence in physics teacher education is undeniable, being considered in the physics teacher training courses of the major Brazilian universities as a proposal that changed the course of scientific education at the time of its production and dissemination. Our research objective was to investigate the socio-cultural and historical conditions that enabled the creation and development of the PSSC, determine the intended educational, scientific, and political goals, and identify the necessary conditions for implementing this innovation in the scientific education of that country. The investigation was based on the Cultural-Historical Activity Theory (CHAT), which considers the historical development of human activities as a complex system of coordinated activities. We relied on primary sources about the economy, legislation, education, science, and documents from the committee itself, analyzed through Document Analysis. As a result, we identified three priority levels for science education throughout the 1950s. Between 1950 and 1953, science education was seen as non-priority, mainly due to the Korean War. In the following period, between 1954 and 1957, science education was considered necessary for economic development, improving the population. Finally, from 1957 to 1960, after the launch of Sputnik I, science education was directly related to national security. By complexifying the concept of Transformative Agency by Double Stimulation (TADS) applied to institutional subjects, it was possible to identify the motives that led to the creation of the PSSC in 1956, as well as the auxiliary motives that culminated in overcoming a conflict between the vision of the United States technical-scientific superiority and the prioritization of the military sectors to the detriment of the educational sector. Analyzing documents obtained from the PSSC archives, the committee was examined at two hierarchical levels: first, as an activity, investigating how its actions were coordinated to create educational materials; second, as an action, examining how the PSSC articulated with other activities to reestablish the United States technical-scientific hegemony in the context of the geopolitical conflict with the Soviet Union. With this thesis, we hope to contribute to discussions about innovations and educational changes in Brazil and worldwide in recent years. In particular, we seek to clarify the conditions that lead to these changes and identify this processs social, economic, and cultural aspects. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 19/27054-0 - Relations between the science teaching projects innovation and the scientific and educational policies in 1950s USA
• Grantee: Felipe Sanches Lopez
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate (Direct)