Educating for citizenship: Reappraising the role of science education

Abstract

New discoveries and technological inventions render the world increasingly complex. Fostering students' scientific and technological literacy has therefore become a primary goal for many science educators. Yet the concept of scientific literacy is itself not at all clear. In this article, we contest the dominant approach, which defines scientific literacy in terms of what scientists produce or do. We argue that a more viable approach begins by framing a more general project of (democratic) citizenship and asks what kind of scientific literacy can contribute to this project. The different parts of our argument are illustrated with data from a three-year ethnographic study of science in one community. These data feature adult residents participating in the contested issue of whether to extend the existing watermain supply a part of the community with water that currently has to rely on seasonally contaminated wells. Irrespective of their science background, these citizens engage scientists.A politicized ethic of care (caring for) entails becoming actively involved in a local manifestation of a particular problem, exploring the complex sociopolitical contexts in which the problem is located, and attempting to resolve conflicts of interest. Preparing students for action necessarily means ensuring that they gain a clear understanding of how decisions are made within local, regional, and national government, and within industry and commerce. (Hodson, 1999, p. 789)

Teachers’ Conceptions About the Genetic Determinism of Human Behaviour: A Survey in 23 Countries

“…Several researchers (Roth 2004, Leach et al 2005, Grace 2010 have already noticed that science education is an important topic for (democratic) citizenship. Marks (2009) argued that a lack of genetic literacy leads to an inability to participate fully in social life and potentially a lack of support for new genetic technologies.…”

Research Into STS Science Education

“…Science-as-culture can also be found in some project-based learning in which local, science-related, real-life problems are addressed by students in an interdisciplinary way (e.g. Calabrese Barton & Yang, 2000;Roth & Désautels, 2004) and in a crosscultural way (e.g. Aikenhead, 2002).…”

“…Generally the classroom objective is to create a sound simulation of an everyday event (e.g. Kolstø, 2001b;Kortland, 2001;Ratcliffe, 1997), although this approach has been criticized for not being authentic enough (Roth & Désautels, 2004 Kolstø, 2001a). In research into conflicting testimonies of scientific experts on science-related controversial issues, for instance, even the scientific technical information itself was found to carry political-ideological baggage (i.e.…”

Le programme Feederwatch et la politique des grands nombres

“…et Désautels appellent les expériences authentiques qui découlent de personnes au comportement du même nom (Roth et Désautels, 2004).…”