Except.
The American dream of harnessing scientific progress to the betterment of
each and every citizen arose in the heyday of the Progressive era in the early
twentieth century. It was originally propagated by a coalition comprising a
new breed of industrialists, public servants, and academicians, who believed
that science and its universal method of knowledge acquisition could unify the
nation and generate economic and social progress. This vision was predicated
on the idea that secular science was, and should be, value-neutral and
thoroughly indifferent to each component of the amalgam of distinctive identities
and beliefs that make up the American people. The Progressives professed that
this indifference on the part of science was basic to its credibility and
that the neutrality of empirical science was its strength.
The proclaimed indifference of science to belief is now being reciprocated.
Teachers fail to relate factual knowledge adequately to the distinctive
experiences and values of an increasingly ethnically and religiously diverse body
of students. As a result, science in the classroom often fails to inspire
students. Some students feel alienated, given the pressure of covering the
basics of modern science. In addition, some parents believe that the integrity of
their family’s religious beliefs is undermined by the forces of scientific
indifference. This hostility is expressed in their children’s attitude toward
science in the classroom. In addition, there is even a fashionable relativist
outlook that belittles the achievements of science. Moreover, in an age when
technology is increasingly user-friendly, one can easily be indifferent,
alienated, or hostile to science yet at the same time continue to enjoy the
benefits of science-based, high-tech industry.
.....................
Research scientists and educators ought to assume a leadership role that
demonstrates, in theory and practice, that science is a model of human growth
and development. This model should be applied in the classroom to address the
values, concerns, and life experiences of individual students. Students will
then come to recognize that science offers abstract knowledge as well as a mode
of understanding their place in the world. It is hoped that they will be
more likely to assume more active roles in the classroom. The result will be
improved scientific literacy in society.
_http://www.secularhumanism.org/index.php?section=library&page=chaim-kosmin_27
_3_
(http://www.secularhumanism.org/index.php?section=library&page=chaim-kosmin_27_3)
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