Abstract
This commentary discusses SSIs in relation to environmental ethics. In their article, Augusto Macalalag Jr., Joseph Johnson and Michelle Lai note tensions between SSIs and environmental education and investigate educational experiences that address some of these tensions. The discourse associated with SSIs generally does not consider nature-centric ethics, which prioritize the sustenance of nature above any of the entities that are part of it, including humans. I will discuss education funded by oil and gas companies developing the oil sands in Canada, to examine different ethical positions embedded in this SSI. Discussion focuses on how the human and social implications of education development are often prioritized, without considering the environmental implications of accepting corporate funding for education. I argue that considering nature-centric ethical positions can more fully illuminate and inform decision making in educational development and SSIs more broadly.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Alberta Education. (2018). Teaching quality standard. Alberta Education. Retrieved on May 6, 2019 from https://education.alberta.ca/media/3739620/standardsdoc-tqs-_fa-web-2018-01-17.pdf.
Aikenhead, G. S., & Ogawa, M. (2007). Indigenous knowledge and science revisited. Cultural Studies of Science Education,2(3), 539–591.
Alberta Education. (n.d.). First Nations, Métis and Inuit education. Retrieved on June 25, 2019 from https://www.alberta.ca/first-nations-metis-and-inuit-education.aspx?utm_source=redirector.
Ball, S. (2012). Global Education Inc: New policy networks and the neo-liberal imaginary. New York: Routledge.
Barrue, C. & Albe, V. (2013). Citizenship education and socioscientific issues: Implicit concept of citizenship in the curriculum, views of French middle school teachers. Science & Education, 22, 1089–1114. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11191-012-9571-4.
Boddice, R. (2011). The end of anthropocentrism. In R. Boddice (Ed.), Anthropocentrism: Humans, animals, environments (pp. 1–20). Boston: Brill.
DesJardins, J. R. (2012). Environmental ethics: An introduction to environmental philosophy. Boston: Cengage Learning.
Droitsch, D., & Simieritsch, T. (2010). Canadian aboriginal concerns with oil sands. Pembina Institute. https://www.pembina.org/reports/briefingnoteosfntoursep10.pdf.
Eastwood, J., Sadler, T., Zeidler, D., Lewis, A., Amiri, L., & Applebaum, S. (2012). Contextualizing nature of science instruction in socioscientific issues. International Journal of Science Education,34, 1–27.
Flanagan, O. (1996). Ethics naturalized: Ethics as human ecology. In L. May, M. Friedman, & A. Clark (Eds.), Mind and morals: Essays on cognitive science and ethics (pp. 19–44). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Gewirth, A. (2001). Human rights and future generations. In M. Boylan (Ed.), Environmental ethics (pp. 207–211). New Jersey: Prentice Hall.
Gough, A. (2015). STEM policy and science education: Scientistic curriculum and sociopolitical silences. Cultural Studies of Science Education,10(2), 445–458.
Government of Alberta. (2007). Alberta’s oil sands 2006. Edmonton: Government of Alberta.
Herman, B., Sadler, T., & Zeidler, D., & Newton, M. (2018). A socioscientific issues approach to environmental education. In J. Reis & J. Scott (Eds.), International perspectives on the theory and practice of environmental education: A reader (pp. 145–161).
Hodson, D. (2009). Teaching and learning about science: Language, theories, methods, history, traditions and values. Rotterdam: Sense Publishers.
Hoeg, D., Williamson, T., & Bencze, L. (2017). School science ruling relations and resistance to activism in early secondary school science. In L. Bencze (Ed.), Science and technology education promoting wellbeing for individuals, societies and environments (pp. 49–66). Dordrecht: Springer.
International Energy Agency. (n.d.). Canada. Retrieved on May 11, 2019 from https://www.iea.org/countries/Canada/.
Latour, B. (2004). Politics of nature: How to bring the sciences into democracy. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Leopold, A. (1949/1989). A sand county almanac: And sketches here and there. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Marshall, D. (2015). Bogged down in the tar sands: Stephen Harper’s legacy on climate change. Retrieved on May 14, 2019 from https://nowtoronto.com/news/bogged-down-in-the-tar-sands-stephen-harper%27s-legacy-on-cli/.
Mertz, E. (2014). Math petition presented to education officials. Global News, January 28. http://globalnews.ca/news/1113635/math-petition-presented-toalberta-education-officials/. Accessed May 8 2019.
Mathis, W. J. (2011). Race to the top: An example of belief-dependent reality. A response to “race to the top leaves children and future citizens behind”. Democracy & Education,19(2), 7.
Meyer, C. (2019). Oilsands polluted more than entire economies of B.C. or Quebec. Canadas National Observer. Retrieved on May 11, 2019 from https://www.nationalobserver.com/2019/04/16/news/oilsands-polluted-more-entire-economies-bc-or-quebec.
O’Neill, O. (1997). Environmental values, anthropocentrism and speciesism”. Environmental Values,6(2), 127–142.
Orr, D. W. (2004). The nature of design: Ecology, culture and human intention. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Owoseje, T. (2019). Ireland becomes second country in the world after UK to declare ‘climate emergency’. Retrieved on May 11, 2019 from https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/ireland-climate-emergency-united-kingdom-greta-thunberg-global-warming-a8909396.html.
Pedretti, E., & Nazir, J. (2011). Currents in STSE education: Mapping a complex field, 40 years on. Science Education,95, 601–626.
Pierce, C. (2013). Education in the age of biocapitalism: Optimizing educational life for a flat world. New York, NY: Palgrave MacMillan.
Presley, M., Sickel, A., Muslu, N., Merle-Johnson, D., Witzig, S., Izci, K., et al. (2013). A framework for socio-scientific issues based education. Science Educator,22, 26–32.
Ramjewan, N., Zoras, B., & Bencze, J. L. (2017). Giving meaning to STSE issues through student-led action research: An actor-network theory account of STEPWISE in action. In J. L. Bencze (Ed.), Science and technology education promoting wellbeing for individuals, societies and environments (pp. 315–338).
Saltman, K. (2010). The gift of education: Public education and venture. Philanthropy education, politics and public life. New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230105768.
Sauve, L. (2005). Currents in environmental education: Mapping a complex and evolving pedagogical field. Canadian Journal of Environmental Education,10, 11–37.
Simpson, J. (2006). Alberta’s tar sands are soaking up too much water. The Globe and Mail. Retrieved on May 11, 2019 from https://web.archive.org/web/20070709174508/http:/www.dogwoodinitiative.org/newsstories/oilandwaterdonotmix.
Statistics Canada. (2019). Gross domestic product (GDP) at basic prices, by industry, provinces and territories. Statistics Canada. Retrieved on May from https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=3610040201.
Steele, A. (2014). The seventh current: A case for the environment in STSE education. Canadian Journal of Science, Mathematics and Technology Education,14(3), 238–251. https://doi.org/10.1080/14926156.2014.935527.
Weinstein, W., Blades, D., & Gleason, S. (2016). Questioning power: Deframing the STEM discourse. Canadian Journal of Science, Mathematics and Technology Education,16(2), 201–212.
WWF. (2016). Living planet report 2016. Risk and resilience in a new era. Gland: WWF International.
Zeidler, D. L., Sadler, T. D., Simmons, M. L., & Howes, E. V. (2005). Beyond STS: A research-based framework for socioscientific issues education. Science Education,89(3), 357–377. https://doi.org/10.1002/sce.20048.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Lead Editor: M. Kim.
This review essay addresses issues raised in Augusto Z. Macalalag, Joseph Johnson and Michelle Lai’s paper entitled: How do we do this: learning how to teach socioscientific issues (doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11422-019-09944-9).
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Hoeg, D. Human and non-human tensions in socioscientific issues and the oil sands in Canada. Cult Stud of Sci Educ 15, 415–422 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11422-019-09958-3
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11422-019-09958-3