A feminist view of science based on interconnectedness, relationships as webs, and legitimate subjectivity¶

Theory · All theories
Evidence · no claims cited

Description¶

The paper advances an account of science, drawing on Gilligan, Fox Keller and others, in which relationships between phenomena are seen as a connected web rather than a hierarchy, subjectivity and human experience are legitimate parts of investigation, and emotions may be attributed to behaviour of atoms, molecules and forces. The authors argue that anthropomorphic explanation fits this framework: it offers "interconnectedness,notobjectivity,human-ness,not mechanistic approaches" as frameworks for examining phenomena. They present it as a movement towards a less masculine, more feminist science in which the needs of, for example, the planet are taken into account as a matter of course.

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

• Understanding is achieved by including the event or object and becoming a part of it, rather than by remaining outside events and being objectively detached.

Constraints¶

• The authors present this as their own premise and argument, not as a tested empirical result.

Target Learners¶

• school science students, particularly female students

Target Learning Objectives¶

• explaining scientific phenomena in ways connected with learners' own experience
• developing a less reductionist, more interconnected view of science

Claims¶

Related Theories¶

• Gilligan's Ethic of Care
• Womanist Restorying

Examples¶

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Key Sources¶

• Watts, Mike; Bentley, Di. (1991). An Instructional 'Mali-Trap': Anthropomorphic and Animistic Thought in Constructivist Science Education. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED336269