Estilos de Pensamento em Avaliação: Perspectivas Decoloniais para o Ensino de Ciências

Abstract

This thesis aims to understand the scenario of conceptual fragmentation that characterizes the field of school assessment, by analyzing, through the lens of Fleckian epistemology, how this theoretical framework can contribute to overcoming the so-called "theoretical chaos" and to proposing pathways that engage in dialogue with decolonial studies, with the goal of decolonizing assessment in the context of science education. The research is guided by the following question: What insights can emerge from a historical-cultural analysis of the knowledge construction process concerning assessment, as a contribution to the decolonization of assessment in science education? This thesis adopts a multi-paper format, comprising a set of five articles which, collectively, aim to respond to our central research question. The rationale for this study lies in the absence of a critical and decolonial approach within academic debates on assessment, particularly in the field of science education, where an instrumental and technicist perspective of assessment still prevails. The thesis does not rely on a single methodology, as each article employs the methodological strategy most coherent with its specific objectives, duly detailed in the respective texts. The articulation among the articles composing the thesis enabled an investigative trajectory that gradually progresses from problematizing the field to proposing decolonized assessment practices. Ludwik Fleck's epistemology was adopted as the analytical framework, allowing for the mapping of styles of thought that shape the different conceptions of assessment over time, relating them to the historical, social, and pedagogical contexts in which they emerged. The study also engages in dialogue with Latin American decolonial thought, which provided tools to identify and critically examine the traces of coloniality present in assessment theories and practices. The results show that historically consolidated conceptions of assessment reflect and reproduce the coloniality of knowledge, of being, and of power, sustaining an assessment ethos that silences non-Western epistemes, reinforces meritocratic standards, and maintains structures of domination. Based on this analysis, the study proposes the construction of a decolonial assessment approach, committed to epistemic justice, the valuing of epistemological plurality, and the rupture with normative and exclusionary assessment practices. The thesis concludes that decolonizing assessment in science education requires not only a revision of assessment tools, but also a broader transformation of curricula, pedagogical practices, and the criteria for validating knowledge—recognizing other rationalities and ways of knowing as legitimate within the school context. As a contribution, this study offers a theoretical organization of assessment conceptions through Fleck's epistemology, a critical lens on the colonial elements present in the field of assessment, and a proposal for dialogue between Fleckian epistemology and decolonial thought as a foundation for decolonial assessment practices in science education. Among the limitations, the study highlights its restriction to the theoretical-reflective field, without direct empirical investigation to validate the proposals, as well as the thematic delimitation, which may limit the scope of the results. Nevertheless, the study opens up avenues for future research and transformative practices in the field of educational assessment, particularly in science education.