Risk Society and Science Education

Abstract

The current COVID-19 pandemic raises reflection on the new roles of science education in citizen education in a world characterized by civilization risks, derived from the current socioeconomic development. This specific type of risk is treated as a manufactured risk as proposed by the sociologist Ulrich Beck. In this paper, we report a document analysis starting from Beck's risk society theory, followed by notions of reflexive modernity, risk perception, and the Cynefin decision-making model for complex problems. COVID-19 pandemic is characterized as a manufactured risk. We state that students are unable to deal with manufactured risk because of the type of problems they are usually prepared to solve at school and the limited risk perception they have. In order to acquire better science education, we propose the integration of wicked problems in science programs alongside the use of a multidimensional schema, the so-called amplified risk perception space, a tool to locate students' risk perception. We hope to contribute to prepare citizens for a world of global and complex events, such as the current pandemic.

Building Back Better after COVID-19: a systematic scoping review of wicked problems affecting developed countries and implications for global governance

“…The article is retrospective in nature, but highlights problems that other countries either face right now or run the risk of facing in the near future. Pietrocola et al, 2020 [26] Article Education COVID-19 is framed as a manufactured problem of great complexity that people that have been through the current education system are unable to solve due to the fact they were never familiarised with problems of this complexity or magnitude. This then serves as a contributing factor as to why problems like climate change, forest fires, global warming, environmental issues, and pandemics are very difficult to conceptualise, let alone tackle.…”

“…However, larger-scaled problems, such as the mapped wicked problems, were poorly addressed or even conceptualised. This is reflected in the presence of wicked problems that pertain to education, which explain that problem-solving skills are taught in a traditional or even archaic way that does not correspond anymore with the modern problems at hand [24,26]. When subsequently looking through a governance lens, the TAPIC framework can explain why these problems manifested in these respective layers of society and why wicked problems are barely present on the individual level.…”

“…As wicked problems become more prevalent, simply "knowing" things will not help to address them. King, 2021 [26] Article Political Science Brexit is interpreted as a wicked problem that stems from other wicked problems, such as the 2008 banking crisis and decades of inner commotion in the Conservative Party over the issue of Europe linked with a sentiment of a 'British identity' that led to a particularly devastating (social) medial campaign. The article is retrospective in nature, but highlights problems that other countries either face right now or run the risk of facing in the near future.…”

Embedding Chemistry Education into Environmental and Sustainability Education: Development of a Didaktik Model Based on an Eco-Reflexive Approach

“…In chemistry teaching, teachers are required to select the most important content for a limited time. We argue that chemistry content knowledge in the curriculum should be chosen related to so-called wicked problems, i.e., problems that are not easy to solve or even define [2]. According to the Jegstad and Sinnes model, the starting point is the curriculum, and teachers teach based on the curriculum.…”

“…Sustainability as well as education are multidisciplinary fields, and how chemistry relates to sustainability issues depends on how we conceptualize sustainability as well as chemistry [1]. We understand our society as a risk society and sustainability issues as wicked problems with significant implications for science education [2][3][4]. Chemical actions (e.g., production and transport) have effects that are ecological, social, economic, political, and ethical [5].…”