Scientific literacy at the school. An inquiry about Archaeology in the classroom

Abstract

This work was based on the proposals made by CSIC at School for innovative methods of teaching science.

Over the past few years CSIC at School has successfully incorporated archaeology into its programmes, as it is a field that offers many possibilities to teach science to early education students. Moreover, its relation with other subjects favours interdisciplinary perspectives, which helps overcome teaching challenges related to a multidimensional study programme.

People are generally very interested in the daily activity of archaeology and its role in researching history. However, like history, archaeology does not seem relevant in the majority of contemporary societies. In fact, its 'usefulness' is often questioned, which, unfortunately, is a common situation in Social and Human Sciences.

This guide seeks to help dispel these myths by proposing to use archaeology to teach science in the classroom. The project has demonstrated that updating the scientific training of teachers and searching for innovative teaching methods is becoming increasingly necessary.