the educational engagement of the notion of ‘vulnerability’ in sustainability
issues.
The paper of Larry Bencze, Erin Sperling and Lyn Carter of the Ontario Institute
for Studies in Education, Ontario, Canada is entitled ‘Students’ Researchinformed
Socio-scientific Activism: Re/Visions for a Sustainable Future’. The
paper addresses the issue of student-led research into socio-scientific issues as a
means of promoting environmental activism among young people.
As a collection, these seven essays present accounts of practice suggestive of a
diversity of interpretations of the concept of socio-scientific issues and their use
in education. The overarching perspective adopted in the independent
commentaries of Russell Tytler (Deakin University) and Vaughan Prain (LaTrobe
University of Bendigo) allows a comparison of similarities and differences among
these diverse accounts in such aspects as:
- the purposes and curriculum framing the SSIs as interventions in science
education and EFS;
- the pedagogies that underpin the interventions;
- their respective epistemologies, and the tensions between these and the
epistemology of traditional science education.
- the diversity of perspectives around the confluence of thinking about
school science, SSIs, and EFS;
- the challenge that the ‘SSI agenda’ represents to school science
education’s fundamental rationale, goals, learning objectives, methods
and approaches to research;
- the role that science could and should play in classroom-based
investigations of SSIs where this form of inquiry is employed with a
science education environment, and whether this role could or should
change if SSIs are used in an EFS environment. To put this another way,
whether the relative importance of the ‘science discipline’ vis-à-vis ‘the
socio-scientific issue’ in shaping the curriculum is qualitatively different
in an EFS environment;
- the different criteria that may be employed in assessing the quality of the
more applied form of curricula resulting from the use of SSIs in an EFS
environment;
- whether the approach of employing SSIs as the focus of student inquiry
necessarily entails a form of student activism; and
- the need for further research into the processes that shape and constrain
‘the SSI agenda’.
Fundamentally these papers occupy a range of positions on a continuum
regarding the role of socio-scientific issues in Education for Sustainability.
Ultimately the issue may well be the epistemological struggle between science
discipline-based interests and interests associated with sustainable
communities; put another way, between placing a primacy (in curriculum and
pedagogy) on teaching scientific knowledge and processes versus placing a
primacy on educating about the structure and processes of sustainability issues
and their resolution in specific community contexts. Tytler (in his commentary
later in this issue) proposes that “…there seems to be general acceptance that the
epistemic approaches of science represent the ‘best game in town’”. The
question implied in the diversity of approaches in this issue is whether this is the
case in the EFS environment. While the epistemic approaches of science may
well be regarded as ‘the best game in town’, an issue is whether, on their own,
they are best suited to afford the organising framework for an adequate
exploration of SSIs. In a context requiring multiple epistemological perspectives
to do justice to a given SSI, such an assertion of epistemological primacy may
serve to marginalise the equally necessary non-scientific perspectives required
to do justice to the issue. The issue remains: in EFS, is the purpose of SSIs to
improve scientific understanding, or is it to improve an understanding of
sustainability issues with a view to advancing the cause of sustainable
communities?
We invite readers to identify these differing positions and consider critically how
socio-scientific issues may play a role in their own EFS curricula.
the educational engagement of the notion of ‘vulnerability’ in sustainabilityissues.The paper of Larry Bencze, Erin Sperling and Lyn Carter of the Ontario Institutefor Studies in Education, Ontario, Canada is entitled ‘Students’ ResearchinformedSocio-scientific Activism: Re/Visions for a Sustainable Future’. Thepaper addresses the issue of student-led research into socio-scientific issues as ameans of promoting environmental activism among young people.As a collection, these seven essays present accounts of practice suggestive of adiversity of interpretations of the concept of socio-scientific issues and their usein education. The overarching perspective adopted in the independentcommentaries of Russell Tytler (Deakin University) and Vaughan Prain (LaTrobeUniversity of Bendigo) allows a comparison of similarities and differences amongthese diverse accounts in such aspects as:- the purposes and curriculum framing the SSIs as interventions in scienceeducation and EFS;- the pedagogies that underpin the interventions;- their respective epistemologies, and the tensions between these and theepistemology of traditional science education.- the diversity of perspectives around the confluence of thinking aboutschool science, SSIs, and EFS;- the challenge that the ‘SSI agenda’ represents to school scienceeducation’s fundamental rationale, goals, learning objectives, methodsand approaches to research;- the role that science could and should play in classroom-basedinvestigations of SSIs where this form of inquiry is employed with ascience education environment, and whether this role could or shouldchange if SSIs are used in an EFS environment. To put this another way,whether the relative importance of the ‘science discipline’ vis-à-vis ‘thesocio-scientific issue’ in shaping the curriculum is qualitatively differentin an EFS environment;- the different criteria that may be employed in assessing the quality of themore applied form of curricula resulting from the use of SSIs in an EFSenvironment;- whether the approach of employing SSIs as the focus of student inquirynecessarily entails a form of student activism; and- the need for further research into the processes that shape and constrain‘the SSI agenda’.Fundamentally these papers occupy a range of positions on a continuumregarding the role of socio-scientific issues in Education for Sustainability.Ultimately the issue may well be the epistemological struggle between sciencediscipline-based interests and interests associated with sustainablecommunities; put another way, between placing a primacy (in curriculum andpedagogy) on teaching scientific knowledge and processes versus placing aprimacy on educating about the structure and processes of sustainability issuesand their resolution in specific community contexts. Tytler (in his commentarylater in this issue) proposes that “…there seems to be general acceptance that theepistemic approaches of science represent the ‘best game in town’”. Thequestion implied in the diversity of approaches in this issue is whether this is thecase in the EFS environment. While the epistemic approaches of science maywell be regarded as ‘the best game in town’, an issue is whether, on their own,they are best suited to afford the organising framework for an adequateexploration of SSIs. In a context requiring multiple epistemological perspectivesto do justice to a given SSI, such an assertion of epistemological primacy mayserve to marginalise the equally necessary non-scientific perspectives requiredto do justice to the issue. The issue remains: in EFS, is the purpose of SSIs toimprove scientific understanding, or is it to improve an understanding ofsustainability issues with a view to advancing the cause of sustainablecommunities?We invite readers to identify these differing positions and consider critically howsocio-scientific issues may play a role in their own EFS curricula.
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