Scientific culture in the normative and curriculum documents of Initial Teacher Education in Chile

This article aims to analyze conceptual, epistemological, and didactic perspectives that contribute to the modeling of scientific culture in normative and curricular documents guiding initial teaching education in natural sciences programs in Chile. A qualitative approach was employed, utilizing thematic content analysis to inductively extract codes. These codes were grouped into the following categories: (1) Science literacy, (2) Science for citizenship, (3) Science education, (4) Teacher education and standards, (5) Teaching and learning process, and (6) Epistemological and didactic approaches. These categories provide insights to the modeling of scientific culture from the documents analyzed. The study concludes that the referenced model of scientific culture transcends deficit thinking and simplistic tendencies by incorporating sociocultural aspects, thus offering opportunities for a contextualized scientific education. While the model recognizes multiple cultural dimensions involved in the development of scientific literacy, there are noticeable inconsistencies in the epistemological and didactic aspects, indicating traces of ‘traditional’ visions in cultural and scientific education. Therefore, it is recommended that approaches nurturing the development of southern epistemologies and a scientific culture tailored to local contexts be integrated alongside global trends in teacher education.