Between Vocational and Educational Orientation Antinomies in Out-of-School Science Education

Abstract For more than a decade, out-of-school science education receives special attention, especially due to a growing shortage of skilled workers in the scientific and technical fields. Learning opportunities for out-of-school science education are considered to be highly effective in promoting the interest and motivation of students for scientific and technical professions, for example because of their authenticity, modern equipment and proximity to research. Due to the strong purpose of recruiting future skilled workers, the general education process and the goal of scientific literacy for educating and forming informed citizens are put on the sidelines, which can be a cause for the failure of out-of-school science education to achieve its goals. In this paper, three antinomies illustrate how career orientation misses its target by lacking scientific literacy. At the same time, solutions to these contradictions are provided by focusing on educational orientation, using epistemic knowledge as an example.