ANALYSIS OF TEXTBOOKS IN AFGHANISTAN: Analysis of science textbooks from a Socio-Scientific Issue (SSI) perspective

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ANALYSIS OF TEXTBOOKS IN AFGHANISTAN

Analysis of science textbooks from a Socio-Scientific Issue (SSI) perspective

Mohammad Sabir Ghairat

Faculty of Arts and Social Science

Teacher Education Master Programme (TEMP) 15 points

Supervisor:Niklas Gericke

Examiner: Maria Jansdotter Samuelsson Date: Nov, 2013

Serial numer

ABSTRACT

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ABSTRACT

A Socio-scientific issue (SSI) is a controversial issue that engages with both science and society.

SSIs are very useful tools in school education since they can improve students’ scientific knowledge and literacy, as well as promote critical thinking. In Afghanistan the curriculum is heavily textbook-driven. Accordingly, the aim of this study is to investigate if and which kind of SSIs, that are used in Afghan science textbooks. Since these textbooks are newly revised it is important to investigate whether the textbooks are in line with recent findings of science education research.

A mixed-method approach including both qualitative and quantitative research methods was used. All available 22 science textbooks in all science subjects (i.e. biology, physics, chemistry, geology and health and environmental science) of grade 4-12 were collected for the analysis. First the presence of SSI topics, and thereafter analysis of SSI topics by using the SEE- SEP model as a framework, was carried out. Second the frequency of using an SSI perspective in the textbooks, the distribution of SSI between subjects, topics, grades and school levels was established. Also the inclusion of global respectively local perspectives on SSI issues was analyzed.

The result showed that Afghan science textbooks seldom include a SSI perspective since it was found in only 6 % of the textbook chapters. Most of these SSI topics were included in the textbooks of the school subjects’ of biology and health and environmental science, but rarely present in chemistry and physics. Regarding school level the majority of SSI topics were found in upper secondary textbooks, but the proportion of chapters including SSIs were higher in upper primary textbooks. An even distribution between local and global perspectives was found.

Concerning the nature of the SSI-topics they referred mostly to issues within science (35%), environment (27%) and ethics (20 %), but reference was made only in few occasions to economy, sociology and policy. Implications for research and education are discussed. As relaying of different subjects areas in afghan science education regarding SSI, found SSI topics in different school grades, levels and various subjects discussed.

In the end of this study, besides conclusion I recommend other important aspects of textbooks to be considered in future studies, as maybe there are other features of textbooks which make interesting of further studies. As well as, there are many other science textbooks in different educational level (science textbooks of TTC and university) which are not explored in this research and needed to be analyzed.

Key words:

Afghan educational system, science textbook, SEE-SEP model, socio-scientific issues, textbooks analysis.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

First of all I thank the Teacher Educator Master Program, Karlstad University Sweden, SIDA, and Ministry of Education. Especially I would like to express my gratitude to Dr. Amir Mansory and Dr. Pia Karlsson who made this program possible. I would like to emphasize the importance of this program for Afghan educators through which they can develop teaching and learning.

Also I would like to thank all the lecturers and staff of Karlstad University: Dr Pia Karlsson, Dr.

Amir Mansory, Ms. Inger Olsson, Ms. Elisabeth Olsson, Dr. Niklas Gericke and Ms. Nina Christenson, who conducted the courses that were interesting and from which I have learnt so much from.

I specifically show my deepest gratitude to my supervisor Dr. Niklas Gericke. His timely and formative feedback and comment has made this study successful, and I have learnt so much from his constructive feedback.

Mohammad Sabir Ghairat

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Table 1: Description of the Afghan science textbooks analyzed in this study…………...….…. 10 Table 2: The distribution of SSI between the subjects of the SEE-SEP model in Afghan science textbooks ……….….13 Table3: The frequency of SSI in Afghan science textbooks at different school grades...……...14 Table 4: Frequency of a SSI perspective in Afghan science textbooks used at different school levels ………..…. 15 Table 5: The frequency of SSI in Afghan textbooks in different school science subjects ….….16 Table 6: Frequency of SSI in different science textbooks of grades 4-12 ………...16 Table 7: Inclusion of global and local SSI within Afghan science textbooks ………...17

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure1. Show the analytical framework of SSI based on SEE-SEP model ……….…..7

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ABBREVIATION

CFCs Choloro Fluoro Carbons

CO2 Carbon Dioxide

DDT Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane GMF Genetically Modified Food

HIV/AIDS Human Immunodeficiency Virus / Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome KVP Knowledge Value and Personal experience

NOS Nature of Science

SEE-SEP Sociology, Environment, Economy, Science, Ethics and Policy SSI Socio-Scientific Issue

STS Science, Technology and Society

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INTRODUCTION

Background and problem area

The issues which engage with science and society are named Socio-Scientific Issues in an educational context. In other words, science and society have relationships, and when these relationships intersect and come into conflict with each other issues emerge. Such issues are termed Socio-Scientific Issues (SSIs) (Chang Rundgren & Rundgren, 2010). According to Christenson et al. (2011) SSIs are strongly associated with science, technology and society.

Furthermore, the “SSIs are dilemmas that include both social and scientific factors; they are often related to biotechnology (e.g. cloning technology) and environmental issues (e.g. global warming) in modern society” (p. 2). As the SSIs take place in science and society they influence our life as well as our environment.

Generally SSIs exist in two different scales which are called global and local issues.

Global warming, genetically modified food (GMF), cloning technology and nuclear power are related to global issues, because these phenomena are discussed, and are controversial, in many countries. The local SSIs are important for only specific countries or areas. One such local question could be the problem of whether to use DDT to eradicate mosquitoes and save human lives from Malaria (while in the same time poison the environment) in a local area. However, independently if SSIs are important on global or local scales they are always connected to important feature of human life and other living beings (Chang Rundgren & Rundgren, 2010).

SSIs have great impact on students learning and interest, because the issues which are related to science and society can change their current life and shape their future (Christenson et al. 2011).

Also SSIs encourage students to considerably reflect on science-based issues in their social world (Zeidler et al. 2005). SSIs can bridge the gap between science, students and society, and improve students’ scientific literacy (Nuangchalerm, 2009).

Scientific literacy could be elaborated from two different angles. From one perspective scientific literacy is associated with law and theories, where school science promotes the ability of students regarding knowledge and skills. From other perspective school science tend to students play the role of members of society in thinking and approaching of science actively (Christenson, 2011). In addition, scientific literacy help individual to makes personal decision about different science based-issues (e.g. smoking, diet, etc) in a science impacted society (Chang Rundgren & Rundgren, 2010).

Therefore, in last 20 years; SSIs have become regarded as an important tool in science education. In this modern period of time many researchers state that SSIs are very important, especially when used as a base for school curricula. By teaching with SSI perspective students scientific literacy might be improved, which in turn can be applied in their everyday life. In addition, SSIs can be addressed by many subjects such as biology, chemistry, physics, medicine and environmental science (Chang Rundgren & Rundgren, 2010).

Society generates needs and scientists tend to find solution for those needs. Therefore many researchers have suggested different SSIs in science education to popularize science, and suggested to make a SSI-based science curriculum at school (Chang & Chiu, 2008). As mentioned before, SSIs are suggested to achieve scientific literacy among students;

consequently, science educators have embedded it in science teaching (Chang Rundgren &

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2 Rundgren, 2010). Also, it has been found that students like, and easy learn, the topics which are engaged with health, social and environmental issues (Ottander & Ekborg, 2012). Thus, it is important to analyze if and how SSIs are portrayed in textbooks, because it can expose the important role of SSI in school education.

Afghanistan attempts to improve the quality of school education and make it more relevant for citizens of a modern society. One way of doing so is to include SSIs in school curricula. In doing so, many topics are reformulated in new textbooks, which relates to SSIs.

According to the new curriculum, science textbooks should address many topics related to the importance of hygiene and environment. These topics include aspects of both science and society which makes them interesting from a SSI perspective. Examples of such topics are HIV/AIDS, Tobacco and so on (Ministry of Education, 2010; Ministry of Education, 2010).

Aim and research questions

The aim of this study is to explore if and which kind of SSIs that are used in Afghan science school textbooks of grade 4-12.The way SSIs are portrayed, in which contexts and from which subjects the SSIs are described will be investigated. The research questions guiding this study are:

1. Are SSIs used as context for teaching in Afghan science textbooks from grade 4 to 12?

2. Are there any differences in the use of SSI between textbooks within different school subjects, grades and school levels?

3. What is the nature of the SSIs within the textbooks regarding reference to subjects and geographical scale?

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LITERATURE REVIEW

In this study Afghan school textbooks related to science education will be analyzed from a SSI perspective. To accomplish my aim I will use the SEE-SEP model as an analytical framework for analysis of the presence of SSI in the textbooks. Therefore, in this theoretical background I will bring up the definitions of SSI, and also elucidate the different dimensions and aspects of the SEE-SEP model.

Socio-Scientific Issues (SSIs)

Many issues are associated with both science and society, and these issues can be termed socio- scientific issues (SSIs).Accordingly, SSI can be defined as an issue that has a “basis in science and have a potentially large impact on society” (Ratcliffe and Grace 2003, quoted by Lundblad et al. 2012, p. 4). In the modern age SSI emerge from the interaction of science and society on different issues (e.g. global warming, DDT, genetically modified food and so on) (Chang &

Chiu, 2008). Chang Rundgren (2011) states that SSI revolves around the relations of science, technology and society, and these are developed in the modern society. Hence technological issues are also often involved.

SSI can be used to find out the needs which are created by society and scientists, and accomplish a compromise of how to fulfill both these needs. To increase the public awareness of SSI, science teachers often bring up many popular SSIs in science education of schools (Chang

& Chiu, 2008).SSIs present a way to remove the gap between students and scientific literacy and make science more democratic in society (Nuangchalerm, 2009). Scientific literacy can be characterized as an understanding through which one can comprehend the concept, process and nature of science. Scientific literacy also offers knowledge about how science and technology impact society. In addition, scientific literacy can enhance the capability of a person to handle different issues in a science and technology dominated society such as making personal decision of smoking, diet and screening TV program etc. SSI can produce a context where students realize and learn scientific literacy (Chang Rundgren & Rundgren, 2010).SSI is an approach used in teaching and learning, which help student to develop the capability of using scientific knowledge to handle social problems and promote their interest in science. Also SSIs are the issues where students develop their scientific knowledge and interest in society. SSIs help students to improve their ability of informal argumentation and making-decision (Lundblad et al.

2012).

Newton (2010) state that argumentation is an important part of science educations as argumentation help students to improve the ability of high-level brainstorming (e.g. critical and creative thinking and problem solving), and make decision in science education (Chang & Chiu, 2008). Making decision in science education is the theoretical and practical understanding of science such as making decision about medical treatment, diet, energy use and so on( Lee, 2007).Through SSIs student learn content knowledge of science; deal with education of citizenship and make them knowledgeable about the nature of science(Ottander & Ekborg, 2012).In turn a scientifically educated individual can be characterized as a person, who understands about the nature of science (NOS)(to evaluate and assess the quality and validity of data, and uncertainty in science, and also critically evaluate challenging scientific claims and make decisions about SSIs) and the relation of science, technology and society (Zeidler, et al.

2005).

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4 SSIs can most often be included into several different subjects such as biology, chemistry, environmental science, medicine and physics (e.g. genetic engineering, DDT, global warming, vaccine issue and nuclear power) (Chang Rundgren & Rundgren, 2010). However there are some SSI topics, which could include several subjects’ area, but mostly can be argued for specific area as for example “climate change” which is mostly related to environment education (e.g. Chang Rundgren, 2011).

SSIs can be discussed through two different scales: a global scale and a local scale. The topics such as global warming, cloning technology, (GMF), nuclear power etc. are often discussed on a global scale because these can be discussed in many countries without any geographical limitations, for example emissions of CO₂ creates global warming all over the world and effects societies on other continents. While a topic like DDT-use is often discussed on a local scale. This topic is important for some specific countries that are affected by the disease (e.g. poor countries in the world).In these poor countries people use DDT to fight the mosquitoes that carry the parasite in order to protect the life of people, meanwhile the toxic of DDT poisons the ecosystem and eventually humans (Chang Rundgren & Rundgren, 2010). This is a typical example of a SSI issue since there is no easy solution to the problems. There are pros and cons with the different actions.

The SEE-SEP model

In the modern age, large numbers of papers have pointed out the rising of SSIs. Also these papers have shown the cross-disciplinary feature of SSIs. As a result, when students conduct informal reasoning and informal argumentation, a lot of disciplinary dimensions are engaged with this process (e.g. scientific knowledge, social knowledge etc.). The dimensions of SSIs can be discussed from science, technology and society (STS). Besides the cross-disciplinary dimension there is other aspects of importance that define SSIs, these are identified as the four important features of SSIs. The four important features of SSIs are called complexity, multiple perspectives, inquiry and skepticism (Christenson et al. 2011; Chang Rundgren & Rundgren, 2010). According to Sadler et al. (2007) these features must be developed as a goal of citizenship, which have implications for making-decision regarding SSI (quoted by Christenson et al. 2011, p.3):

1. Recognizing the inherent complexity of SSI.

2. Examining issues from multiple perspectives.

3. Appreciating that SSI are subject to ongoing inquiry.

4. Exhibiting skepticism when presented with potentially biased information.

The SEE-SEP model is a framework used to make combination of the cross-disciplinary dimensions and the three features of SSIs from a holistic point of view (Christenson, et.al 2011).

The SEE-SEP model recognizes six subject areas of importance for SSI; these are: science, environment, economic, ethic, sociology and policy. In the model these six topics are related to the three aspects from which decision-making and argumentation are based: knowledge, value and personal experience (Chang Rundgren & Rundgren, 2010).The SEE-SEP model visualizes how these topics and aspects about SSIs relate to each other from a holistic viewpoint (Christenson et al. 2011). Therefore when discussing about SSIs the three aspects of knowledge, value and personal experience are very important which can be associated with different subject

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5 areas such as environment, science, economy and so on (Chang Rundgren & Rundgren, 2010).

Since the three aspects and the six subject areas can be used as an analyzing tool in describing SSIs I would like to briefly discuss these below.

The three aspects of knowledge, value and personal experience (KVP) The aspect of knowledge

Scientists as well as students and people in general tend to use knowledge and evidence in making decisions. Therefore the aspect of knowledge can be connected to the six subject areas.

The connection would be based on the concepts and theories which are developed and put forward within one of those six subjects (e.g. sociology, science, environment and so on) (Chang Rundgren & Rundgren, 2010).

The aspect of value

When people discuss SSIs they tend to view the issues through their own values, cellular phone can be brought as an example of those issues where people value whether it is useful or not useful. In the same way, in some SSI people use their own value where there is no certain verification whether it is dangerous not. The aspect of value is strongly related to a person’s socio-cultural background and is also often closely related to a person’s attitudes (Chang Rundgren & Rundgren, 2010).

The aspect of personal experience

People often use their personal experience when they discuss SSIs, which is especially profound in issues related to their everyday lives. Therefore according to the aspect of personal experience people mainly focus on their own experience in decision-making and informal argumentation about SSIs (Chang Rundgren & Rundgren, 2010).

The six subject areas

Since the SEE-SEP model cover the six subject areas it is strongly required to define them (the subject areas).

Sociology/culture (So)

As mentioned above sociology is strongly related to the aspect of value, but in order to conduct argument of SSIs, people can provide the aspect of knowledge by using the concepts and theories which are developed from sociology (e.g. western or eastern).To make decision regarding SSI, people can use their personal experiences which are developed by varied societies and cultures (i.e. various religions) (Chang Rundgren & Rundgren, 2010; Chang Rundgren, 2011).

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6 Environment (En)

Many SSI topics such as the global warming, nuclear power and so on are connected to the environment subject area. In this case we can distinct the environment subject area from science subject area, due to that environmental science has the component of biology. Since the issues, that are engaged with environmental science are important scientists emphasize the importance to base decision-making on arguments that include environment and ecology (Chang Rundgren

& Rundgren, 2010; Chang Rundgren, 2011).

Economy (Ec)

The subject of economy is involved in many SSI topics such as for example DDT. As discussed previously DDT is used by people of poor countries to kill mosquitoes and take out the Malaria, since they have poor economic situation in their countries they first of all like to save their lives from disease before saving the ecosystems from the toxic effects of DDT. For sustainable development, economy is placed as an important subject among the three main subjects (i.e.

sociology and environmental science) (Chang Rundgren & Rundgren, 2010; Chang Rundgren, 2011).

Science (Sc)

Application of scientific knowledge is one of the main purposes of science educators. Therefore, SSIs make a suitable situation, where science students can apply their scientific knowledge and discuss what they have learnt. Scientific knowledge can be gained from many science subjects such as biology, medicine, chemistry and so on, which must be exposed to individual’s thinking.

Not only the aspect of knowledge but students can provide the aspects of personal experience and value, when argue SSI topics which are connected to science subject area (Chang Rundgren

& Rundgren, 2010; Chang Rundgren, 2011).

Ethics/morality (Et)

When discussing SSIs the subject area of ethics can be seen in science education today. Most of people use the aspect of value while discussing the subject of ethics/morality. However the ethics/morality subject can also sometimes be engaged with the sociology subjects as for example: regarding cloning technology, which may be accepted or not (by society) because religious beliefs are involved in this issue (Chang Rundgren & Rundgren, 2010; Chang Rundgren, 2011).

Policy (Po)

According to the subject area of policy, when people discuss SSI, they make decisions based on governmental policy. As some people wish their government to build up more nuclear power plants because of the reason that they support the ability of their government, also, there are many other SSIs which can be concerned by policy such as cloning technology, global warming

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7 and so on. In this case some people like that their government should control the behavior of the public by passing laws (Chang Rundgren & Rundgren, 2010; Chang Rundgren, 2011).

As mentioned above, the three aspects of KVP, and the SEE-SEP model visualize SSIs in a holistic perspective, as shown in figure 1.The SEE-SEP model will be used in this study (excepting value and personal experience, especially personal experience which cannot be applied in textbooks) as an analytical tool to investigate the nature of SSIs in Afghan textbooks.

Figure1: The figure show the analytical framework of SSI based on the SEE-SEP model. The analytical framework of SSI describes the six subject areas and their relationship with the three aspects of KVP (Christenson et al. 2011).

SSIs and school education

Sadler recommended that “curricula pertaining to the social, tentative and empirical aspects of science would be particularly useful for students as they confront socio-scientific issues” (Sadler, 2004b p. 25).Using SSIs in school education rise scientific based issues which have impact on students’ everyday lives. Besides scientific issues school education should focus on the interrelationship of different subject areas’ challenges (e.g. social, political, moral and economic challenges) (Christenson et al. 2011). As in last two decades, SSI has shown its importance in science education, and many researchers accepted the crucial role of SSI in school science.

Therefore, researchers state that there is a needed to make changes of the school curriculum in favor of including SSIs (Chang Rundgren & Rundgren, 2010).

Nowadays students can use SSI as a suitable context, through which they can convey content knowledge to their real life. For example: “when students need to argue about whether their government should build up more nuclear plants, they need to not only have the knowledge related to energy and chemistry, but also possess the ideas regarding the impact on society and environment” (Chang Rundgren & Rundgren, 2010 p. 6).

Since SSIs offer moral and ethical involvement they are important for all students to engage in, also, curriculum must concentrate on the ethical and moral concern of SSIs. All

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8 students needed some knowledge about scientific literacy, however not every student will become “professional scientist” and will not need traditional conceptual knowledge about science. Therefore, to learn science through SSI, students can handle problems which they face later on in their life, deal with issue which are based on science and make decision about SSI (Nuangchalerm, 2009).Therefore it is needed to make a SSI based curriculum for school education. Studies have revealed that those students who worked according to a SSI based curriculum better appreciated to work with issues that could be discussed from a humanistic perspective (Ottander & Ekborg, 2012), and this is very important from an Afghan perspective.

As using SSI in science education can be a way of “living” democracy. Expressing opinion is the basic foundation of democracy, therefore to live up a democratic society it is important to public express and share their opinions and ideas (Christenson, 2011). Furthermore, modern society is impacted by science and to make certain its appreciated role in the context of democracy, people of such society must be able to handle scientific issues. This ability can be promoted by discussing SSI (Sadler, 2004a). Therefore, putting SSI in Afghan science education might be very useful for an Afghan context, through which could meet basic foundation of democracy (e.g. expressing ideas and opinions).

While, from perspectives of professional teachers, some knowledge about science issues and enough time for discussion of SSI topics, is not important for an Afghan context. As Sadler (2004a) notes that argumentation and making decision regarding SSI are needed for prior knowledge about science-based issues. According to Ministry of Education (2010) Afghan students learn about sixteen subjects in every grade and attend six periods in a day. In this case they become bored and cannot learn any subject. The lack of the professional science teachers is the other issues, which cause the lack of science knowledge of Afghan learners about science- based issues. Also the shortage of time (as students attend six periods in a day and every period contain about 30-45 minutes) and a large number of students in each classroom prevents Afghan learners to negotiate SSI in a good way in the classroom.

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METHODOLOGY

According to the nature of my research question, I have explored SSI topics in Afghan science textbooks of grade 4-12.To accomplish this aim I have used a mixed-method approach including both qualitative as well as quantitative research methods. In this approach I have carried out quantitative and qualitative analysis of sections of text in the textbooks (Denscombe, 2010). Ina qualitative research approach ideas and meanings are identified and described (Bryman, 2012).

Furthermore, as mentioned by Punch (2005, cited in Bell, 2010) qualitative research is interested in understanding about the meanings of a person or a text, which then can be classified into different categories. Therefore in this study first the presence of SSI topics, and thereafter analysis of SSI topics, by using the SEE-SEP model, was carried out as the qualitative part of this study. Quantitative research approaches emphasizes the quantification in the analysis and collection of data (Bryman, 2012).Punch (2005, cited in Bell, 2010) states that quantitative research is used to compare one set of data or facts to another. In this study a quantification approach have been used to quantify and establish the frequency of using an SSI perspective in the Afghan textbooks, and to show the distribution of subjects when using an SSI perspective as represented in the SEE-SEP model. Another dimension that will be categorized and counted is the inclusion of global respectively local perspectives in SSI issues.

Sampling and data collection procedures

Since SSI is strongly related to science education and used to provide suitable context where students can appreciate scientific literacy it is important to investigate whether this perspective is integrated into textbooks (Chang Rundgren & Rundgren, 2010).In the classroom, textbooks play a unique role as obligatory reading material. They strongly influence teachers’ practices and students’ learning. In many countries they are the most used pedagogical resources in school settings, even the major determinants of the curriculum in action, strongly influencing teachers’

decisions about content selection and sequencing, learning activities, evaluation approaches, etc.

(Moody, 2000). In the Afghan context there are only one textbook provided by the government, and the textbook is the teachers’ curriculum. Hence in Afghanistan the textbook is even more important as determining the outcome of teaching. Therefore it is important to investigate if and to what degree the textbooks include SSI as a perspective. To get an overview of the whole school system in Afghanistan all Afghan science textbooks in primary as well as secondary school were selected for this study. Since science is taught from grade 4 to grade12 all textbooks in those grades representing the following school subjects were chosen: Health and Environmental Science, Biology, Chemistry, Physics and Geology, all in all making up 22 textbooks (see table 1).

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10 Table 1: Description of the Afghan science textbooks analyzed in this study

No Subject Title ( year) Author

1 biology Biology of Grade Seven (2010) Sabir, M., Qarizada, P., Sayedi, S. M. S.

and Tarin, H.

2 biology Biology of Grade Eight (2010)

Sayedi, S. M. S., Nasir, H., Nadimi, A. Q., Jalil, A., Slaimanzai, G. H., Khaliqi, G. N.

and Muhibzada, T. S.

3 biology Biology of Grade Nine (2010) Gulistan, A. H., Nasiri, H., Sayedi, S. M.

S., Jalil, A. and Slaimanzai, G. H.

4 biology Biology of Grade Ten (2011) Qarizada, P., Jalil, A. and Tarin, H.

5 biology Biology of Grade Eleven (2011) Sayedi, S. M. S. and Nasir, H.

6 biology Biology of Grade Twelve (2011) Sayedi, S. M. S. and Nasir, H.

7 chemistry Chemistry of Grade Seven (2010) Aziz, A. H., Sharifi, M. A. and Shinwari, A. A.

8 chemistry Chemistry of Grade Eight (2010) Halim, N. M., Salimi, M. H., Hidayet, H.

And Shinwari, A. A.

9 chemistry Chemistry of Grade Nine (2010) Shifa, S. A., Ahmadzai, B., Fiaz, M. A.

and Shinwari, A. A.

10 chemistry Chemistry of Grade Ten (2011) Aziz, A. H. and Shinwari, A. A.

11 chemistry Chemistry of Grade Eleven (2011) Aziz, A. H. and Shinwari, A. A.

12 chemistry Chemistry of Grade Twelve (2011)

Aziz, A. H. and Shinwari, A. A. and Sharifi, M. A.

13 geology Geology of Grade Ten (2011) Khapalwak, G. F.

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health and environmental

science

Health and Environmental Science of Grade Four (2009)

Qarizada, P., Roki, A. K., Jalil, A., Hashami, M. S., Masror, R., Faizi, A. W.

and Hussin, S.

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science

Health and Environmental Science of Grade Five (2009)

Roki, A. K., Qarizada, P., Naqshbandi, G., Jalil, A., Masror, R. And Hussin, S.

16

science

Health and Environmental Science of Grade Six (2011)

Roki, A. K., Qarizada, P., Naqshbandi, G., Jalil, A., Masror, R. And Hussin, S.

17 physics Physics of Grade Seven ( 2010)

Saghari, G. A., Masroor, R., Hussin, S., Mayar, S. R. S., Karimyar, S. M., Ibrahimi, M. R. and Nasiry, M.

18 physics Physics of Grade Eight (2010) Masroor, R., Hussin, S., Ibrahimi, M. R.

and Nasiry, M.

19 physics Physics of Grade Nine (2010) Jamder, M. Q., Mayar, S. R. S., Stanikzai, S. and Nasiry, M.

20 physics Physics of Grade Ten (2011) Karimullah, Masror, R. and Nasiry, M.

21 physics Physics of Grade Eleven (2011) Saghari, G. A., Hidari, A. and Fizi, A. W.

22 physics Physics of Grade Twelve(2010) Jamder, M. Q., Saghari, G. A., Masror, R., Nasiri, Z., Nasiri, M. and Fizi, A. W.

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The SEE-SEP model

The SEE-SEP model as previous described in the literature review was used in this study as an analyzing tool to reveal the constituted subjects of SSI in the textbooks. The SEE-SEP is the abbreviation of six subjects’ areas (Sociology, Economy, Environment, Science, Ethics and Policy) and was used to reveal the subjects of socio-scientific issues used in the textbooks. These subjects can also be related to the aspects of Knowledge, Values and Personal experience.

However since the language in textbooks most often are formal and impersonal there are very few text-sections for which statements are expected to be related to values and personal experience. Therefore the different aspects of the SEE-SEP model were not found to be of interest in this study and were not further investigated.

Data analysis

In the textbooks analysis of this study text were analyzed and the presence of SSI topics in the texts were investigated and described.

Qualitative research method

Since qualitative research is based on interpretivism and tend to be engaged with word (text) (e.g. Denscombe, 2010), I have qualitatively analyzed the text of selected textbooks. Since I wanted to analyze the eventual presence and nature of SSI in the books I wanted to analyze the smallest unit of text that in a coherent way aim at describing a well-defined topic. Accordingly, I have chosen to analyze the text beneath a chapter under the headings of the lowest level in each textbook. This analytical unit was chosen after I conducted an inductive pilot tryout, in which I found that these text sections best match the described aim. In all the textbooks there were two levels of headings, and accordingly the text beneath each subheadings at the second level were therefore analyzed (chosen as analytical unit) as separated units in all the textbooks.

First I read through all the textbooks and identified in which chapters (of lowest level) I could identify an SSI perspective. SSI is defined as issues that are based on science and have great impact on society (e.g. Kolstø, 2000); therefore in this study I have selected and grasped the issues which make interconnection between science and society. For example from the reading of chapter 7 in the textbook “Health and environment” of grade 6 I have categorized the chapter about “air pollution” as including an SSI perspective because the text beneath this heading clearly shows the interrelation between science and society as exemplified by this sentences: “air can be polluted by CO2 and different other gases which are produced in factory, motors, and homes through burning of fuel. These gases have bad effects on human, animals and plants,” (Roki et al. 2011, p. 86).

Thereafter the chapters that were found to include an SSI perspective were described in a grid (see Appendix 1). In the columns of the grid the subjects, grades, chapter names of first respectively second level, i.e. the analytical unit, are listed. The second level headings are equal to the SSI topics in the grid. These second level headings are named SSI since only those chapters are listed which are involved with SSI topics, and the others that were not found to include a SSI perspective were disregarded and not included in the grid. Subsequently the

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12 different subjects of the SEE-SEP model (i.e. science, economy, environment, sociology, ethics and policy) were included as analytical determinators in the grid (see Appendix 1).

Thereafter in the analysis of each consecutive chapter of second level that previously was found to include a SSI-perspective, the grid was used as an instrument in the categorization of the subjects of SSI. The analysis was done by once again reading the chapters that were identified as including an SSI perspective. Whenever a statement in the text referred to one of the topics a note was done in the grid for that subject in that chapter. For example: “when DDT becomes dissolved within water it causes water pollution” (Gulistan et al. 2010, p. 108)is an example of a statement that was categorized as belonging to the subject of environment. This example: “AIDS cause the immune deficiency of human body. In fact AIDS destroy Leucocytes (white blood cells, which help to fight disease) and make it possible for bacteria and viruses to cause the different diseases” (Gulistan et al. 2010, p. 100), was classified as belonging to the subject of science.

Finally in classifying whether the SSI issues were discussed in a global and/or local perspective I have constructed a second grid in the same way as the first (see Appendix 2), also in this analysis the analytical unit was the same and I used the same analyzing technique as described in the previous paragraph. SSI issues that are discussed using a worldwide perspective were categorized as global SSI, while SSI issues that were discussed using a regional perspective were classified as local SSI, for example the greenhouse effect most often were discussed referring throughout the world then it was categorized as global SSI, but DDT which most often were discussed in a regional scale were classified as local SSI. Sometimes an issue was discussed from both regional as well as global perspectives within a chapter and then the chapter was classified as both local and global (see Appendix 2).

Quantitative research method

In this study quantitative method is used to analyze collected data numerically. First I have counted the frequency of including SSI in chapters of textbooks and the nature of the included SSIs by calculating the frequency of reference to different subjects as described by the SEE-SEP model. These data are then used to calculate the percentage of use of SSI in different: subjects (Sociology, Economy, Environment, Science, Ethics and Policy), grades (4-12), school levels (i.e. upper primary, lower and upper secondary), school subjects (i.e. health and environmental science, biology, geology, chemistry and physics), which then were presented in tables 2- 6.Finally global and local SSIs were counted and the distribution between them was calculated, see table7.

Limitations of the study

The limitation of this study is that there are no earlier studies about analysis of Afghan textbooks from a SSI perspective. Therefore, these findings cannot be compared to other studies which are carried out before.

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13

FINDINGS

The findings section is divided into several subheadings depending on the insights of SSI that the SEE-SEP model analysis gave: The inclusion of SSI according to different subjects in the SEE- SEP model, SSI and School grades (4-12), SSI at different school level, SSI in various school science subjects (i.e. Biology, Chemistry, Physics and Health and Environmental Science).

Finally global and local issues of SSI are discussed

The inclusion of SSI according to different subjects in the SEE-SEP model

From the analysis of science textbooks it was found that the inclusion of SSI topics is based on different subjects as shown in table 2. Regarding the total number of chapters using SSI this study revealed that there were 90 chapters of lowest level in all the science textbooks using a SSI perspective, which amounts to 6 % of all chapters in the science textbooks (1520). As table 2 indicates the mostly used subject is science, because it amounts to 35% of all topics that embodied SSI. Environment was enlightened second and was used to a large extent (27%) and after this ethics could be found to an extent of 20 %. The subjects of economy, policy and sociology were referred to low extent, see table 2.

Table2: The distribution of SSI between the subjects of the SEE-SEP model in Afghan science textbooks

Subjects

Number and frequency of different chapters including an SSI perspective

# %

Sociology 8 4

Economy 17 8

Environment 55 27

Science 72 35

Ethics 41 20

Policy 11 6

Total 204 100

SSI and different school grades

SSI perspectives were found in textbooks from allgrades.Table 3 illustrates the distribution of SSI topics in relation to different grades. All grades include at least some chapters with an SSI topic but the relative frequency varies. Most of SSI topics are included in the textbooks of grade 12.In this grade the number of SSIs was 28, which represents 31% of all the SSI topics the students encounter in their schooling from grade 4 to grade 12.The numbers of SSI were also found to be quite high in grade 9 and 10reaching 20 %in grade 9 and 17 % in grade ten out of all the found SSIs. While, the other grades (i.e. grades, 4, 5,6,7,8 and 11) only include about 2-9 % of the SSIs.

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14 Table3: The frequency of SSI in Afghan science textbooks at different school grades

Grades

Total number of chapters in the textbooks of each grade

Total number of chapters

including SSI at each grade

The relative distribution of SSI between school grades (%)

The proportion of SSI in science textbooks at each school grade (%)

4 46 5 6 11

5 57 4 4 7

6 41 8 9 20

7 155 2 2 1

8 194 5 6 3

9 196 18 20 14

10 296 15 17 5

11 268 5 6 2

12 267 28 31 10

SSI at different school levels

The school system in Afghanistan is categorized into two major levels and these are called primary and secondary education (Ministry of Education 2010). The primary level of education begins from first grade and continues until the end of sixth grade. In addition, primary education is also divided into two sub levels which are called lower primary (grade 1-3) and upper primary education (grade 4-6). The secondary level of education includes grade seven to grade twelve.

Lower secondary and upper secondary schools are the sub parts of secondary education. Grades seven, eight and nine are embodied in lower secondary education, while the other three grades (i.e. grade 10-12) are integrated in upper secondary school. In this study grades one to three are disregarded, because in Afghanistan science is not taught at those grades. While, the science textbooks of other three levels (i.e. upper primary, lower secondary and upper secondary) are included as an analysis area of this study. Therefore I have calculated the presence of SSI regarding these three levels.

According to table 4 there are significant differences between the occurrences of SSIs within the textbooks of different school levels. 19% of found SSI chapters were placed in primary school education textbooks. Lower secondary school science textbooks accounted for about 28% of the SSIs chapters, while 53% of SSI chapters were found in upper secondary school textbooks. Therefore a large number of SSI topics are elaborated in upper secondary education, and small amount of them explicated in primary school textbooks, while lower secondary school textbooks take place in a middle position.

In the fifth column of table 4, the percentage of SSI within different school levels is exposed (i.e. upper primary, lower secondary and upper secondary). As can be seen 12% of chapters in upper primary textbooks include an SSI perspective, while, in lower and upper secondary education there were only found to be 5%respectively 6% of chapters including a SSI perspective. The reason is the large number of chapters in science textbooks of lower and upper secondary education (see table 4 and Appendix 1). Hence the proportion of SSIs is higher in

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15 primary science textbooks than in secondary science textbooks although the total numbers of SSIs is lower.

Table4: Frequency of a SSI perspective in Afghan science textbooks used at different school levels

School Levels

Total number of chapters in the textbooks of each school level

Total number of chapters including SSI at each school level

The relative distribution of SSI between school levels (%)

The proportion of SSI in science textbooks at each school level (%)

Upper Primary 144 17 19 12

lower

Secondary 545 25 28 5

Upper

Secondary 831 48 53 6

SSI in various school science subjects

School education in Afghanistan is included in seven sections (i.e. Islamic studies, languages, algebra, natural science (science education), social sciences hand crafts, art and computer and physical training (Sport)), and categorized for different purposes (Ministry of Education 2010).Among these different sections I have targeted science education for my study, because SSI is associated with science education (Chang & Chiu, 2008). Science education is divided into five important school subjects that I have investigated separately regarding the use of SSI.

These school subjects are addressed by Ministry of Education (2010) as the subjects of science education and include: biology, physics, chemistry, geology and health and environmental science. Health and environmental science is taught in upper primary school and the others are used as science subjects in secondary education.

Table 5 shows the frequency of SSI within each of the five science subjects. Generally all of these subjects include SSI topics in the textbooks, but the involvement of topics are different Biology was found to include the most SSI topics, mounting up to 56%. The health and environmental science are in second position making up 19 % of the SSIs, but this is less than half of the biology textbooks. The other subjects (i.e. geology, chemistry and physics), includes SSI topics to less extent between 6 -10 %.

However table 5 indicate that the proportion of SSI within each subject is highest in Health and Environmental Science in which 12 % of the chapters include a SSI perspective, which is more than the others subjects that range between 8 to 2 % ( i.e. Geology, Chemistry, Physics and Biology).

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16 Table 5: The frequency of SSI in Afghan textbooks in different school science subjects

Subjects

Total number of chapters in each science subject

Total number of chapters including SSI in each science subject

The relative distribution of SSI between school subjects (%)

The proportion of SSI in each science subject (%)

Health and

Environmental Science 144 17 19 12

Geology 83 5 6 6

Chemistry 372 9 10 2

Physics 286 9 10 3

Biology 635 50 56 8

Table 6: Frequency of SSI in different science textbooks of grades 4-12

Grade Subject

Total number of chapters in the textbook including SSI

The relative distribution of SSI between the textbooks (%)

The proportion of chapters including SSI within each textbook (%)

7 Biology 2 2 4

8 Biology 3 3 4

9 Biology 17 19 18

10 Biology 10 11 11

11 Biology 1 1 1

12 Biology 17 19 10

7 Chemistry 0 0 0

12 Chemistry 5 6 13

10 Geology 5 6 6

4

Health and

Environmental Science 5 6 11

5

Health and

6

Health and

7 Physics 0 0 0

8 Physics 1 1 3

9 Physics 1 1 2

10 Physics 0 0 0

11 Physics 1 1 2

12 Physics 6 7 10

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17 In table 6 the inclusion of SSI in chapters of each textbook can be seen. SSI topics are mostly included in biology of grades 9 and 12. While in five of the textbooks; (chemistry of grades 7, 9 and 10 and physics of grades 7 and 10) a SSI perspective were not included at all in any of the chapters. In some textbooks (biology of grade 11, chemistry of grade 8 and physics of grades 8, 9 and 11) only one chapter included a SSI perspective.

In table 6 it is also shown that health and environmental science of grade six and biology of grade nine included a high proportion of SSIs since 20% of chapters of grades six in health and environmental science and 18% of second level chapters of biology of grade nine include a SSI perspective. While, about 7-13% of SSIs are embodied in six of these textbooks (i.e. health and environmental science of grades 4 and 5, biology of grades 10 and 12, chemistry of grade 12 and physics of grade 12). In nine of the textbooks the inclusion of SSIs ranges from 1-6%.

Global and local SSIs

Because SSI can be discussed through global and local scales (e.g. Chang Rundgren &

Rundgren, 2010) it is also important to find out the distribution in Afghan science textbooks regarding global and local SSIs. The scores of global and local SSI ware analyzed to find the frequency, and differences between global and local SSI in Afghan science textbooks. The results are accounted for in table 7.

As seen in the table 7 global and local scales numbered closely, as percentages of them show that there is no significant differences. As table 7 illustrates 30 % of categorized SSIs is illuminated through global perspective, while the 31% of SSI topics are described through local perspective. Conversely, 39% of found SSI chapters involve both perspectives.

Table 7: Inclusion of global and local SSI within Afghan science textbooks

Different dimensions of SSI

Total number of different

scales(global, local and both) of SSI

The relative distribution between different scales (global, local and both) of SSI (%)

Global 27 30

Local 28 31

Both perspectives 35 39

Total 90 100

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18

DISCUSSION

SSI and Afghan science textbooks

SSI is a “dilemma” based on society and theoretically associated with science (Sadler, 2004b). In addition, SSI is very important for students, because through SSI students can achieve scientific literacy and understand the nature of science (Zeidler et al. 2005). Regarding the importance of SSI, Sadler (2004b) notes that science-based issues are very important (i.e. global warming, nuclear energy and alternative fuels) since personal decisions, media reports and political movements support their significance. One of the more important goals of science education is to achieve scientific literacy and to convey content knowledge to students. This aim can be achieved through teaching with SSI, critical thinking, informal decision-making and scientific thinking of students (Chang Rundgren & Rundgren, 2010). Accordingly, if the Afghanistan Ministry of Education attempts to provide science textbooks based on modern educational standards, SSIs should be an important ingredient. Therefore, this study has investigated Afghan science textbooks of grade 4-12 regarding to see whether the Ministry of Education has lived up to the goals of including a SSI perspective in school education. As the results show, the number of chapters including an SSI perspective was about 90, which makes up 6% of all chapters in second level Afghan science textbooks (table 2).Hence, there is a long way to go if we aim to make SSI an integral part of the science curriculum in Afghan schools. Though it is positive that the new textbooks present some issues which are connected to science and society (SSI) such as drugs, HIV/AIDS, tobacco use, global warming etc.

Regarding the inclusion of SSI in each textbook, result was shown that the proportions of SSI in 22 science textbooks are not smooth. As study found that in biology of grade nine and health and environmental science of grade six a large number of a SSI perspective were involved. About 7-13 % of SSIs were included in six of the textbooks. Nine of the textbooks were embraced about 1-6 % of SSI topics. While in five of the textbooks were not embodied any SSI (see table 6). According to the distribution of SSI in science textbook, teachers and students could not teach and learn any SSI in some of the textbooks. Also in some of the textbooks they can discuss only one SSI topic. Therefore, the rough involvement of SSI in Afghan science textbooks is trivial for teaching and learning of SSI in science classrooms. To enhance and develop teaching and learning of SSI in science classroom, all science textbooks must present SSI topics and would be in a same proportion.

The inclusion of different subjects of the SEE-SEP model

Usually when discussing SSI, people refer to one of six subject areas, sociology, environment, economy, science, ethics and policy, in their argumentation. These subjects are made explicit by the SEE-SEP model (Chang Rundgren & Rundgren, 2010). In this study, the SEE-SEP model was used as analytical framework. According to this framework, 90 SSI topics, which were found in Afghan science textbooks of grades 4-12, were analyzed. Regarding the SEE-SEP model I can say that all of these subjects were referred to in the SSI topics displayed in Afghan science textbooks, but their impact differed a lot. I found that the most referred subject was science which makes up 35% of all identified SSI topics. Previous research (e.g. Chang- Rundgren, 2011) found that science is at focus in schools’ science teaching, and this is also the overall aim of science textbooks, so science is expected to be the most referred to subject of this

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19 study. The second most discussed subject was environment, because it makes up 27% of all identified SSI topics. Today most SSIs are associated with environment issues such as global warming, GMOs, petrol, nuclear power, etc. Therefore, these findings are also expected and in line with other studies (Chang-Rundgren, 2011). The third subject which was also identified making up a high percentage of the argumentation in the textbooks was ethics (20 %). Also about ethics, Chang-Rundgren (2011) writes that in this modern world ethical issues (i.e. human rights and animal rights) are very important for decision-making regarding SSIs. The other subjects (sociology, economy and policy) were only seldom referred to in the textbooks.

The results show that the majority of SSI topics in the textbooks are discussed in relation to science. While some subjects such as sociology, economy and policy were almost absent.

Accordingly, most SSI topics are only discussed in a very narrow scientific or environmental perspective with the addition of an ethical perspective. However, to make the most of an SSI issue, which has resemblance to real life decision-making, it might be important to discuss SSI issues in the light of several of the other subject areas as well. As Chang Rundgren & Rundgren (2010) note, to develop a more holistic view on SSI, people should base their argumentation on different subjects.

Since science education is divided into five different subjects in Afghan schools (i.e.

biology, geology, physics, chemistry and health and environmental science) (Ministry of Education 2010), I have investigated the difference in inclusion of SSIs within textbooks from these different science subjects. Result show that the majority of SSI topics were included in biology textbooks.

The biology textbooks included 56 % of all chapters that incorporated SSI topics and 19 % of the topics were found in health and environmental science. While the other three subjects (physics, chemistry and geology) included very few SSI topics (see table 6). However, it may be important to all of school science subjects to elucidate SSI to a certain degree, because SSI is important for all science subjects, and also not only connected to biology and health and environmental science, but it could be engaged with all science subjects such as physics (e.g. nuclear power), chemistry (e.g.

DDT) and medicine (e.g. vaccination).Therefore, there is room for improvements of the textbooks in those subjects regarding this aspect.

SSI in different grades and school levels

The second stage of primary education is from grade four to six. At this school stage students might be able to cope with new challenges that demand them to use their skills and knowledge.

The Intermediate or lower secondary education includes grade 7, 8 and 9. According to this period of education learners should develop their ethics, morality and feeling regarding sociality (Ministry of Education, 2010). Hence, SSI could be used to promote students’ ethics and morality at this school level and as Sadler (2004a) concludes SSI can develop students’ morality, because in negotiation of SSI, ethic processes can be used as aspects of decision-making in any science based-issue.

Totally, 41 aspects of ethics were found in total of90chapters that included an SSI perspective. From these 41 aspects only 11 were found in upper primary school textbooks and 6in lower secondary school textbooks (see table 2 and appendix 1). Accordingly, these numbers are not enough for developing students’ morality. To develop students’ morality science-based issues in textbooks of these levels, education (i.e. upper primary and lower secondary schools) must be more discussed in relation to ethics.

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20 Secondary education starts from grade 10 and ends at grade 12. This period is very important for students because they are being prepared for higher education or a working career.

Therefore the students should develop scientific literacy and knowledge when attending this school level (Ministry of Education, 2010). SSI can be characterized as a suitable context for this purpose, where students can develop scientific literacy (Chang Rundgren & Rundgren, 2010).

Thus, in this study I have aimed to find out about the use of SSI also at this school level. In the findings it can be seen that SSI is used in textbooks representing each school level, but with great variance. A large number of SSI topics are found in upper secondary education textbooks (53%), but only 28% of the SSIs were found in lower secondary education, and 19 % in upper primary education. Hence the inclusion of SSI increases with school level which might be a good thing since it could provide the context for improved scientific literacy at the upper secondary school as asked for by the Ministry of Education (2010).

Global and local SSI

Regarding general characteristics of SSI Ratcliffe and Grace (2003) state that SSI is commonly media-reported and involves global, national and local scales (cited in Ottander & Ekborg, 2012). Previous research (e.g. Chang Rundgren & Rundgren, 2010) claims that it is important to teach students about both global and local SSIs, so it was important to elucidate this issue in Afghan school textbooks. The current study of Afghan science textbooks found that the SSI topics found are discussed through both global and local scales because 30% of SSI is related to global issues while 31%is discussed in relation to local issues. Moreover, the majority of SSI topics were argued from both global and local perspectives (39%). Consequently, most of SSIs found in science textbooks are engaged through both global and local scales (e.g. narcotics and vaccination). Global warming, nuclear bombs, AIDS/HIV and the greenhouse effect are the issues, which were described in a global scale. While SSI such as DDT, the destroyed action of river and using salt in winter for prohibition of frozen roads were argued locally (see Appendix 2).These involvements of global scale, local scale and both perspectives are very important, as through learners could be familiar with each of them in negotiating SSI. If people only are concerned with local issues they might inflict global problems, and vice versa. However the Afghan science textbooks seem well-balanced in the use of global respectively local issues in the textbooks.

SSI and its importance in an Afghan context

The study found that there were about 90 SSI topics included in all the22 science textbooks from grade 4-12. Negotiating of these SSI topics can help students to develop their scientific literacy, critical and scientific thinking, and cognitive activities. As Sadler (2004a) notes the context of SSI is important for achieving scientific literacy (cited in Christenson et al. 2011). Also in arguing SSI, students reflect critical thinking and also critical thinking can be developed (Chang

& Chiu, 2008; Chang Rundgren & Rundgren, 2010; Reis and Galvão, 2008). Regarding cognitive activities and thinking Zeidler et al (2002) note that “students may become better skilled at making logical and scientific decisions on socio-scientific issues” by “integrating multiple perspectives with their own meta-cognitive activities (e.g. re-flective thinking)” ( quoted by Lee, 2007, p. 171). Taking all these issues together it can be seen that SSI not only promotes scientific knowledge and scientific literacy, but many generic skills (i.e. critical

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21 thinking, argumentation, ethical considerations etc.) that are needed to impart to the rising generations of Afghanistan. Hence introducing and negotiating SSIs in Afghan classrooms would not only improve scientific literacy, but general literacy at a whole.

Also, in this research the SEE-SEP model was used as an analytical framework, therefore, the use of different subjects(i.e. sociology, environment, economy, science, ethics and policy) were found regarding investigated SSI topics in Afghan science textbooks. The subjects were not reflected in a good way; because there were many SSI which were discussed through one or two subjects (appendix1). Oppose to this result it might be more important to negotiate SSI through all of these different subjects. As previous researchers (e.g. Christenson et al. 2011) state that, students could use many subjects in discussing SSI, and also in their research they found that all of subjects’ areas were included in students’ negotiation regarding chosen SSI.

ANALYSIS OF TEXTBOOKS IN AFGHANISTAN: Analysis of science textbooks from a Socio-Scientific Issue (SSI) perspective