The Role of Narrative in Communicating Science

Abstract

This theoretical paper attempts to make the case for the use of narrative (i.e., fictional written text) in science education as a way of making science meaningful, relevant and accessible to the public. Grounded in literature pointing to the value of narrative in supporting learning and the need to explore new modes of communicating science, this paper explores the use of narrative in science education. More specifically, in this paper we explore the question: What is narrative and what are its necessary components that may be of value to science education? In answering this question we propose a view of narrative and its necessary components, which permits narrative a role in science education, and, is in fact, the main contribution of this paper. Also, a range of narrative text examples are offered in the paper to make the case for a representation of fictional narrative in science. In order to address questions connected with the use of fictional narrative in science education, a research agenda based on perspectives on narrative implications for learning, is framed.