Burkinabe Children’s Acquisition and Construction of Astronomical Knowledge

Abstract

Knowledge acquisition and construction in astronomy is a difficult process, as the scientific concepts are mainly counterintuitive. Few studies in this domain have sought to understand children’s conceptual development by focusing on the characteristics of their developmental context. Our aim was thus to enhance current understanding of knowledge development in astronomy by studying children in a cultural context where the scientific worldview is not the dominant one. To this end, we interviewed 120 middle-class children from Burkina Faso (approximately 50% girls) in Grades 1, 3, 5, and 8 about their understanding of the Earth’s shape and the day–night cycle. Our results showed that first and third graders’ responses mainly relied on everyday observations of the Earth (i.e., flat) and a geocentric vision of the day–night cycle, but some scientific elements did appear in the fifth and eighth graders’ answers, probably owing to the science lessons they received at school. The present study shows that (a) when they are congruent, everyday observations, initial knowledge and everyday testimony, constitute a strong basis for children’s knowledge construction in astronomy and (b) even in Grade 8, after they have been exposed to classroom teaching of astronomy that promotes a scientific worldview, Burkinabe children have a mainly hybrid knowledge, mixing the scientific worldview with their own initial one. We can therefore confirm Jegede’s assertion that, for some non-Western children, nothing short of a revolution is needed to acquire a full scientific understanding and put aside traditional beliefs.