WHY TEACH SCIENCE IN THE 21ST CENTURY? - REFLECTIONS FROM FEYERABEND’S PHILOSOPHY AND SUBVERSIVE EDUCATION FOR CRITICAL MEANINGFUL LEARNING

ABSTRACT:

Contemporary society is marked by drastic and rapid changes, where an education based on truth is losing its meaning. The school may be more useful if it prepares students so they will not be subjugated to the society in which we live. In particular, science education can play an important role in this new way of seeing education. This paper reports a research of theoretical and empirical nature that sought to explore how the works of Neil Postman, Paul Feyerabend and Marco Antonio Moreira can contribute to how scientific education can be useful in the 21st century. The articulation of these references to a scientific education through the history of science aims to train people who are inquisitive, flexible, creative, innovative, tolerant and progressive; which, according to Postman and Moreira, are the ones that least subjugate to contemporary society.

Keywords:
Subversive education; Critical meaningful learning; Paul Feyerabend; Science history