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Bodily experiences in secondary school biology

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Abstract

This is a study of teaching about the human body. It is based on transcribed material from interviews with 15-year-old students and teachers about their experiences of sex education and from recordings of classroom interactions during a dissection. The analysis is focused on the relationship between what students are supposed to learn about the biological body and their expressed experiences and meaning making of bodies in the schoolwork. The results indicate that the negotiations associated with the encounters between the bodies of the classroom (student, teacher, and animal bodies) are important for what directions meaning making takes and what students are afforded to learn about bodies, biologically as well as in terms of values. We suggest that these negotiations should be taken into account at schools, be regarded as an important part of the learning processes in science education and in that way open up for new possibilities for students’ meaning making.

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Correspondence to Auli Arvola Orlander.

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Orlander, A.A., Wickman, PO. Bodily experiences in secondary school biology. Cult Stud of Sci Educ 6, 569–594 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11422-010-9292-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11422-010-9292-4

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