Educação CTS/CTSA: uma análise a partir das contribuições de Imre Lakatos e Hugh Lacey

Abstract

Between the 1960s and 1970s, there was a growing concern about problematizing and critically thinking about scientific activity, mainly observing its social impacts, given the socio-environmental consequences of events/situations such as the perception of the effects of environmental degradation resulting from industrialization, atomic bombs and the Vietnam War. Thus, studies emerged that would later be called the STSE Movement (Science-Technology-Society-Environment). Among the fronts of action of this movement, there is one aimed at structuring education from the perspective of mobilizing the STSE spheres – STSE Education. From this, we noticed gaps that are still little explored in theoretical-epistemological reflections in STSE Education studies within this research program, considering the broader context of the field of research in Science Education. When we talk about a “broader research context”, the interpretations are varied, because, depending on the theoretical contribution on which they are based, its constitution changes. One of the possibilities for understanding the fundamental bases of a field of research is through epistemological analyzes from areas such as History and Philosophy of Science, through authors such as Imre Lakatos and Hugh Lacey. The choice of Lakatos as one of the central authors for the analysis here is due to the potential that we perceive in his work to understand scientific theories and, thus, serve as a guide for our look at research in STSE Education. However, because we did not perceive an in-depth discussion in Lakatos about the relationship between values and science, we turned to Lacey as the other central author for our analysis, as he raises precisely this issue in meta-scientific studies. Therefore, this thesis aims to: Evaluate the theoretical foundations of STSE Education based on the complementary epistemological frameworks of Imre Lakatos and Hugh Lacey. To this end, this objective is subdivided into two specific ones, being (i) Understanding the theoretical-epistemological contributions of two authors from the Philosophy/Sociology of Science – Imre Lakatos and Hugh Lacey – and how their approaches can complement each other in the construction of a more comprehensive vision for understanding science, especially centered on values; (ii) Analyze, through an integrative literature review, whether and how publications in the field of Science Teaching research regarding STSE Education present in their foundations epistemological contributions characteristic of Lakatos and Lacey's studies. This thesis is presented in the format of a collection of articles, with each chapter-article covers one of the specific objectives. Whether through Lakatos aiming to understand how science (re)constructs itself and also reaffirming the importance of the intertwining between history and philosophy of science, or through Lacey tensioning how epistemic and non-epistemic values influence and are influenced, in praxis, through/in Science and Technology, we see meta-scientific studies advancing and regressing, simplifying and complexifying such deep relationships, realizing the complexity that the field of research in STSE Education has been developing over the decades of its existence. The field of research in CTSA Education, in its foundations proposed in the literature, presents a dense structure in its theoretical constitution, visible due to exhibiting, even if in greater or lesser development, contributions from both Lakatos and Lacey.