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Building a Foundation for the Use of Historical Narratives

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Abstract.

Many educators today advocate the use of historical narratives as one of a number of possible contexts for teaching science. However, several pedagogical and epistemological issues arise when implementing narratives in the classroom. In this paper, we are interested in expanding our view of narrative, specific to integrating the history of science and science teaching, and we extend our argument beyond simple anecdotal references to recognise the benefits of the historical narrative in a variety of ways. At the same time, we address pedagogical concerns by broadening perceptions of the manner and contexts in which narratives can be developed so as to include imaginative and manipulative elements that provide interactive experiences for students that are more conducive to implementation by science teachers. Several practical examples are presented as illustrations of historical narratives with imaginative and manipulative elements that by design facilitate a more meaningful implementation in the science classroom.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Education, University of Winnipeg, 515 Portage Ave., Winnipeg, Manitoba, R3B 2E9, Canada

    Don Metz

  2. Physics Department, University of Winnipeg, 515 Portage Ave., Winnipeg, MB, Canada, R3B 2E9

    Stephen Klassen

  3. Faculty of Education, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB, Canada, R3T 2N2

    Barbara McMillan

  4. Department of Curriculum and Learning, Iowa State University, Ames, IA, USA, 50011

    Michael Clough & Joanne Olson

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  1. Don Metz
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  2. Stephen Klassen
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  3. Barbara McMillan
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  4. Michael Clough
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  5. Joanne Olson
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Correspondence to Don Metz.

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Metz, D., Klassen, S., McMillan, B. et al. Building a Foundation for the Use of Historical Narratives. Sci Educ 16, 313–334 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11191-006-9024-z

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