Science Education: A Home for My Growth, Development, Vision and Action in Research
摘要
A home is a place, an environment, an abode where one lives, longs for or feels welcomed by other members of a family. It is a place where one lives and cares for the welfare of others and vice versa. It is a place where one develops a sense of belonging to a group of people sharing common interests, values and cultural identity. In the African culture, a person never leaves his/her home permanently nor loses his/her sense of identity. In fact, in the Yoruba culture where I grew up, the outside world is considered as a place for business or a market place where people trade, make profit and return home to contribute to the welfare of one’s family or community in general. The underlying philosophy in most African communities is termed Ubuntu i.e., “I am because you are.” Ubuntu is characterised by such things as togetherness, relatedness or connectedness that motivates people to strive for mutual relationship or collective harmony. The same worldview has been the driving force for my research endeavours in science education for the past five decades. It keeps me busy as emeritus professor of science education running capacity-building research seminars/workshops as well as the supervision of theses after nearly two decades after my official retirement from the university.