Trusting the social value of diverse scientific enterprises: Matching a patchwork of challenges to a mosaic of responses

Across decades, science educators have invested in curricula that presume scientific unity. The phrases habits of mind, scientific method, processes of science, inquiry skills, nature of science, practices of science reflect this obsession. However, historians look with skepticism at universal notions of science and endorse truth-seeking circumscribed by context. Indeed, inadequate appreciation of diversity may lead to the mistrust of disciplines that appear to depart from simplistic notions of the scientific method and thus imperil the political will to search for solutions to the problems of climate change, extinction and environmental degradation, and global pandemic. Accordingly, science educators stand at a crossroads. They can choose to reinforce scientific naivete by following the long-standing quest for unity among the sciences as guidance for what to teach, or they may accept the disunity of disciplines, teach the value of diverse sciences to solve societal problems and cultivate trust in appropriate responses to distinct challenges.

Automated summary

Science educators are faced with the choice of either emphasizing the unity of science and teaching accordingly, or accepting the diversity of disciplines, teaching the value of different scientific fields in solving social problems, and cultivating trust.