Toward an Institutionalized Discipline of Science Education:Reconsidering the Relationship between Science Education and Science Subjects Pedagogy

Science education research is emerging in Mainland China, but it has yet to be established as an academic discipline in its own right. Since it is a very important research field, it needs to be set up as an independent and inter-disciplinary educational discipline. By examining the rise of international science education as an academic discipline and the rationale for its existence, the Anglo-American and Continental European traditions, and the relationship between science education and subject pedagogy in science, we expound on the nature of science education, the rise and development of science education both at home and abroad, the relationship between science education and subject didactics in science, the effect of Anglo-American ‘ empiricism-curriculum ’ and Continental European ‘ pedagogy-didactics ’ traditions on China, and the necessity and immediacy of institutionalizing science education as a discipline in China. Due to the impact of the two main traditions and that of the traditional culture on Chinese science education, there are many conflicts and tensions in science education in contemporary China. In order to establish science education as a discipline in its own right, it is important to deal with these conflicts and tensions, so that we can successfully set up an internationalized and localized discipline of science education.