A journey through the forest of phenomena: A science center as a project of cultural transformation

Abstract

This paper focuses on the science center as an institution of indirect pedagogy. The concepts of the exhibitions and exhibits of the Exploratorium — the first science center founded in 1969 in San Francisco by Frank Oppenheimer — are presented as a model that inspired the creation of Warsaw’s Copernicus Science Center. This model is set in the historical and cultural context of changes concerning both the paradigm of museums and the broader perspective of changes in the culturally ingrained idea of education. Describing the pedagogical assumptions of exhibits and exhibitions aims to reconstruct a new relationship paradigm between the visitor and an exhibition institution such as a science center. The key issue concerns the relationship between society and science modeled (and molded) by Copernicus. Introduced into social and educational practice (dissemination of culture, especially science), the new institution is intended to trigger new thinking on a society-wide scale and lead to socio-cultural change.