Time for education: Ontology, epistemology and discursiveness in teaching fundamental scientific topics

Abstract

Science has the character of construction of explicative normative models, whose semantic value is assessed instrumentally, though the quantified corroboration of predictions, or their compliance with the facts, constituting a separate world. But we oppose to its approach as a "logis tic” activity, depraved of any ontological substantiation, since, this would ignore the meditative or interpretive features salient in it. The ontological appropriation of the world is a multidisciplinary task, which cannot be integrated without a form that combines argumentation with a meaningful discourse, open to culture.
The view of learning science as culture acquisition affords an intuitive, holistic, and rich appreciation of students' experiences in a science classroom. Common cultural mediators in science education are narratives. McClosky and Bruner have been long-time advocates of the use of narrative in education. As a case study, we applied a both cultural and ontological approach to the teaching of time in primary education.