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Applying Gadamer’s concept of disposition to science and science education

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Abstract

In this paper, I recall previous arguments for a hermeneutic approach to science and claim that such an approach necessitates attention to the development of dispositions. I undertake an analysis of Hans-Georg Gadamer’s philosophical hermeneutics to identify and describe dispositions relevant to a hermeneutic approach to science. I then apply elements of Gadamer’s theory of education to the problem of fostering appropriate dispositions in science classrooms. In doing so, I offer a few suggestions for the cultivation and assessment of these dispositions in K-12 and college classrooms.

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Notes

  1. These ideas are articulated as necessary components of scientific literacy in science education reform documents and standards (AAAS 1990, 1993; NRC 1996).

  2. Schwab (1961) calls such presentation a ‘rhetoric of conclusions’.

  3. Carey et al. (1989) describe three levels of understanding with respect to a sophisticated epistemology of science ranging from an absolutist view of science as a collection of ‘facts’ that are ‘discovered’ in nature, to a constructivist view of science as an explanation-building endeavor. Results from a research project with seventh graders showed no student reached a level-three understanding, even after inquiry-based instruction, although some students moved beyond a level one understanding. Researchers suggest there may be a developmental obstacle between intermediate epistemologies and a level three understanding. Some researchers view such results in light of a developmental scheme (Perry 1970) in which students progress from a dualistic (right/wrong) view of knowledge ultimately to a ‘commitment to relativism’ stance in which students realize the constructed nature of knowledge but are able to make informed commitments to certain theories. Intermediary between these two extremes is a stage in which students recognize the constructed nature of knowledge but take this to mean all knowledge is equally valid. Abd-El-Khalick (2001) documented most of his students (preservice teachers) exhibited this type of thinking at the end of a science methods course.

  4. Developing certain dispositions has been a recent goal of teacher education in the United States. According to standards set by the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE), teacher education curricula should address the development of certain dispositions, which NCATE defines as ‘the values, commitments, and professional ethics that influence behaviors toward students, families, colleagues, and communities and affect student learning, motivation, and development as well as the educator’s own professional growth’ (NCATE 2006, p. 53). Although the dispositions listed by NCATE (e.g., ‘commitment to a safe and supportive learning environment’) are quite different from those discussed in this paper (indeed, the goals of the two differ as well), NCATE seems to be using the term ‘dispositions’ in a similar sense as is used in this paper. Rather than inherent, uninfluencable individual qualities, dispositions to NCATE are qualities which can be developed by certain curricula and the outcomes of such dispositions can be observed through behaviors.

  5. Eger (1993a) describes this ‘ontological turn’ quite eloquently (pp. 11–19).

  6. Most of the primary texts analyzed here were drawn from a collection of interviews and essays compiled by Gadamer relatively late in his career (Misgeld and Nicholson 1992). The timing of this collection is important because the claims about science which Gadamer expresses in this volume are generally viewed as being more contemporary and moderate than in his earlier works, most notably, Truth and Method (Gadamer 1960, 1965). An exception is Gadamer’s rectoral address delivered at the University of Leipzig in 1947. In this important address, Gadamer describes necessary dispositions for what I interpret as the hermeneutic scientist. Such dispositions, however, are echoed in later essays (Gadamer 1983b, 1986a, 1987), albeit without a specific disciplinary lens. The essays in Misgeld and Nicholson (1992) are supplemented by secondary texts which further explicate Gadamer’s philosophy (Critchley 2001; Grondin 1995, 2003; Risser 1997; Wachterhauser 1986).

  7. Preconceptions have more recently been described as ‘pretheoretical’ or ‘tacit’ knowledge (Critchley 2001; Eger 1993a).

  8. Interestingly, such ‘discrepant events’ are given a great deal of importance in current science education literature. According to current cognitive theory, understanding is encouraged when the student is forced to re-examine his preconceptions in the face of a evidence that is not commensurate with those preconceptions (Bell 1982b, 1985; Bell et al. 1986). Thus, much science education research has been devoted to the identification of common preconceptions (e.g., Bell 1982a; Driver 1985) and the design of curricula that create cognitive dissonance with respect to these preconceptions (e.g., Goldberg et al. 2006; Goldberg et al. 2005).

  9. Eger describes a very similar state of mind as ‘being in that which one is interpreting’ (Eger 1993a, p. 16), which, he says, requires a ‘state of cognitive detachment and attachment: detachment from the everyday self (“forgetfulness”) required for an attachment to the object or to the instrument that brings one closer to the object’ (Eger 1993a, p. 17). He illustrates this idea through the example of Barbara McClintock, who gained heightened attunement to the corn plant by closely observing individual plants grow from seedlings.

  10. Though Dewey calls these attitudes, they seem closer to the definition of disposition offered above, because of their intentional character.

  11. ‘an active disposition to welcome points of view hitherto alien; an active desire to entertain considerations which modify existing purposes’ (Dewey 1916, p. 175).

  12. Ritchhart identifies six dispositions commonly cited in education research literature and summarizes different researchers’ definitions of these dispositions. The dispositions are open-mindedness, curiosity, metacognition, a truth-seeking orientation, strategic thinking and skepticism. Some common themes identified in his analysis mirror Gadamer’s dispositions. Examples are intellectual empathy, openness, awareness of one’s own thinking and beliefs, willingness to take a position and propensity to seek alternatives.

  13. The chapter in which Dewey’s attitudes are described, in fact, is called ‘The Nature of Method’ (Dewey 1916, pp. 164–179), and he calls the attitudes ‘The Traits of Individual Method’ (p. 173).

  14. Gadamer’s polemic against scientism bears striking resemblance to the current movement in science education to help students gain a constructivist, rather than a naïve realist (scientistic) view of science (reviewed in Abd-El-Khalick and Lederman 2000; Carey and Smith 1993; Lederman 1992; Meichtry 1993; Sandoval 2005).

  15. Many of these instances make use of a scheme developed by Toulmin (1958) for analyzing the extent to which claims are backed by warrants and data in argumentation. Other types of discourse analysis in science education involve interpretation of cognitive levels exhibited by certain types of statements or questions (e.g., Weaver et al. 2005) or the extent to which students rely on authority or dialog to increase their understanding of scientific concepts (Scott et al. 2006).

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Acknowledgements

I extend my sincere gratitude to Drs. Debby Kerdeman and Mark Windschitl for helping me develop the ideas in this paper. I also thank Dr. Matthew Miller for critically reviewing the manuscript.

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  1. Department of Chemistry and Science, Technology and Math Education, Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA, 98225, USA

    Emily J. Borda

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Borda, E.J. Applying Gadamer’s concept of disposition to science and science education. Sci & Educ 16, 1027–1041 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11191-007-9079-5

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