Sustainability and Science Education
The idea of sustainability has become one, which institutions and individuals across the globe are rapidly embracing.
Sustainability offers new hope for applied science ethics and truly understanding science in a more systematic manner as
conceptualized under the four-pronged method developed by Hodson (2011): learning science, learning about science,
doing science, and engaging in sociopolitical action. While many governmental and nongovernmental organizations
(NGOs), as well as individuals are championing the sustainability movement, the challenges remain fundamental when it
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comes to our understanding of science and our relationship with science. We must still seek to promote greater and more
widespread knowledge of science – science literacy, and the responsibility of ethically applying science knowledge and
ideas to make sustainability a realistic goal as science creates as well as destroys. McFarlane and Ogazon (2011) believe
that there are significant challenges to sustainability education that must be overcome before true sustainability can
become the reality and hallmark of our social, political, and economic institutions. The sustainability movement rests
within the grasp of science and science literacy as these are the major avenues through which we come to understand the
nature of the issues, the problems and challenges of sustainability efforts and practices (McFarlane & Ogazon, 2011).
Science is both source and cause for sustainability, and we should recognize where Hodson’s descriptor “engaging in
sociopolitical action” comes in as one of the building blocks of principled and effective science education.