Unesco is committed to changing scientific language to attract new students
The national specialist of the Program for Education of Unesco in Uruguay, Zelmira May, told Efe today that science should adopt a new language closer to society to avoid the "loss of enthusiasm" of future students.
"Those who do science historically have had a tremendous difficulty in speaking in a language for society, which has made people get entangled and say 'this is not for me' and go another way," he said during the presentation of the X Ibero-American Congress of Scientific Education in Montevideo.
In addition, he identified the "demystification" of the figure of the scientist, who is represented as "a man with a beard, gown and glasses", as a key not to alienate the youngest from a field with which they maintain greater affinity during the phase of childhood.
"Science has that power to attract, children are curious by nature, science is something natural, a comfort zone for children but then it happens that in the educational process the science starts to scare us a lot," he said.
According to the expert, this fact causes that "many people who might have had a successful future in the field of science, innovation and technology stay on track".
May opted for a scientific teaching based on responding to "current challenges" and looking to "teach today what is going to be needed tomorrow".
"Science has to be at the service of solutions, we have tremendous challenges linked to sustainable development: water pollution or lack of water, loss of biodiversity (...) We have to think about the world that is coming and the Science is everything that will give us solutions to problems or challenges, "he said.
Within the framework of the presentation of the X Ibero-American Congress of Scientific Education, which will be held between March 25 and 28, 2019, was also present the president of the Central Directive Council (Codicen) of Public Education of Uruguay, Wilson Netto, who He stressed the importance of scientific education for citizenship.
"The teaching of science is a vector that allows us to build citizenship but also, in its professional specificity, is a fundamental tool between science and technology to be able to aspire to new models of development," he said.
In addition, he gave the example of the Nordic countries as references in scientific education.
"Norway, for example, is a country of engineers: there is a cultural difference, which is in the matrix, in which emphasis is placed on training, on the dynamics that science takes as a tool to be socialized throughout society and that It takes space in the tasks of education, "he said.
