On the Possibility of Authorship in Science Education

The four sections of this chapter are named with sentences I have heard in discussions that followed presentations of my work. They are related to four moves made by others: (1) ignoring any discussion, since I am not an authority; (2) reframing the discussion exclusively within what has been done; (3) affirming that my discussion is (too) specific and only makes sense within my own framework; (4) evaluating my research through the lens of its immediate applicability. I will engage here in a sort of dialogue with these moves, to elucidate the way I navigate through different settings in the science education field. I assume the risk of being monologic, and presenting other voices through my own. I do not aim to produce a very precise narrative. Instead, I use poems, remembrances, fiction, metaphors, and less argumentative language to express the inexactitude of my journey. Moreover, I assume the risk of making my own limitations open to others, but to me this is not essentially problematic. Rather it is an invitation to build alternative spaces for dialogue and to strengthen my/our criticism within a conservative field, wherein there is little space to experience a deeper sense of authorship.