ABSTRACT
There seems little doubt that the scientific literacy “movement” will play a significant role in years to come in the reconceptualization of school science. Fensham (2007), for one, draws on a range of arguments to support the position that radical change is needed (see also Aikenhead, 1996; Jenkins, 2007; Osborne, 2004, 2007). As this process gains momentum, no doubt much too will be written. Yet we suspect that most of the work will focus on school science within the context of education in the First World. Our concern in this chapter lies elsewhere-with our own South African context-and it is quite a particular one at that. Not only does our education system span such a range of First World and Third World contexts, it is also one in considerable flux. For we have awakened, like Rip Van Winkle, from what amounts to a decades-long curriculum slumber, to find a system awash with change. Thrust (as it were) into the present, we are faced with numerous challenges, many of which are exemplified by the situation in science education where we have adopted a visionary, context-driven, multiscience perspective curriculum. It is the scientific literacy aspirations of our new school science curriculum, and the implementation thereof, which we will examine in this chapter. The object of our case study is a new topic in the curriculum-Chemical Systems-which represents, in our opinion, the strongest manifestation of scientific literacy ideals. This topic was the focus of a materials development project based at a local university, which had as a key component the trialing of materials in a number of schools. In this chapter we focus on two of these school contexts: Mount View High, a private school in the city; and Dune High, a government school in the townships. The experiences of project staff and a teacher will be told through a number of narrative accounts which in turn will form the basis for the analysis that follows.
