Conflito moral entre ciência e religião no livro didático de Ciências Naturais

Abstract

The relationship between science and religion is a historical theme that has been gaining increasing prominence in academia, society and the school environment. Conflict is not the only form of relationship between these areas, however it is the most widespread and ends up generating a series of problems in understanding this complex relationship. Issues involving science and religion also manifest themselves in the school environment and can at certain times raise problems in the teaching-learning process, which makes the theme important in science education. Thus, this research aims to analyze the nature of the discourse that relates science and religion in the content of natural science textbooks used in high school. To this end, the possible presence of this representation, of science in conflict with religion, in an epistemological or moral dimension, in the textbook was investigated. The data reveal that the textbooks assume diverse conceptions regarding science, some more diverse, with discussions full of criticisms about their methods and limits. At other times, the sciences are worked as a body of knowledge constructed in a single way, with very similar methods, hypotheses and theories. It was identified that the relationship between science and religion most often follows the perspective of conflict and obstacle/interference. Moral conflict appears specifically related to certain areas of science, such as biotechnology. Given these results, there is a clear need for a review of textbooks in order to promote more integrated and contextualized approaches to the relationship between science and faith.