Abstract
Society increasingly faces scientifically and politically complex problems (e.g., climate change, biodiversity loss, environmental injustice), which require citizens have capability to participate in public processes that incorporate scientific analysis with deliberation about societal goals. Environmental action could be one avenue for developing young people’s capabilities to participate in science and democracy. “Youth environmental action” refers to a process in which youth and adults co-create environmental and social change. This in turn builds young people’s capabilities for further participation in personal and community transformation. As an educational approach, environmental action aims not to modify specific behaviors like recycling or saving water, but rather engages youth in planning and taking action on environmental issues they find relevant. In addition to improving natural and built environments, these experiences can help youth grow as citizens because they involve authentic participation in community issues. Drawing on literature in the fields of civic education and science education, we argue that environmental action occurs at the intersection of youth civic engagement and inquiry-based science education. We share the results of an exploratory study investigating the interplay of science and civic engagement in 10 programs that engage youth in local environmental action in New York State. Scientific practice and civic engagement share several characteristics, including questioning assumptions, understanding systems, considering alternative explanations, and debating critically within a community. Our research suggests that environmental action involves a civic-science synergy because it concurrently engages youth in civic and scientific processes through which they can develop the critical dispositions and skills characteristic of both endeavors.
…thinking is a process of inquiry, of looking into things, of investigating. … It is seeking, a quest, for something that is not at hand. We sometimes talk as if ‘original research’ were a peculiar prerogative of scientists or at least of advanced students. But all thinking is research, and all research is native, original, with him who carries it out. (John Dewey, Democracy and Education, 1916)
Science is in my opinion just a very general word that describes everything we know, and everything we seek to learn. (Teen participant in local environmental research and action, 2003)
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Acknowledgments
We are grateful to each of the youth and practitioners who shared with us their experiences participating in or facilitating environmental action programs. We also thank the following individuals for their contributions to this research: Carol Cook, Dan Decker, Gretchen Ferenz, Stephen Hamilton, Kerri Mullen, Scott Peters, Jamila Simon, Michael Simsik, Linda Tompkins, and Nancy Trautmann. Funding for this research was provided by the Cornell University Agricultural Experiment Station federal formula funds, Project No. NYC-147459, received from the Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture. Support for the primary author’s involvement with the Landfill Project was provided by the National Science Foundation’s Graduate Teaching Fellows in K-12 Education Program.
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Schusler, T.M., Krasny, M.E. (2015). Science and Democracy in Youth Environmental Action – Learning “Good” Thinking. In: Mueller, M., Tippins, D. (eds) EcoJustice, Citizen Science and Youth Activism. Environmental Discourses in Science Education, vol 1. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-11608-2_23
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