Abstract
The STEPWISE framework (Science & Technology Education Promoting Wellbeing for Individuals, Societies & Environments) takes a radical overhaul of traditional aims of science education, stretching well beyond the learning and application of scientific content. Science education is conceived of as a process of critical and cultural formation, promoting people’s awareness of impacts of knowledge cultures that value economic production and material consumption over social and environmental concerns. Citizens are called upon to ‘take action,’ pushing away from neoliberal demands. In this chapter, I wish to extend the theoretical premises of this type of education by foregrounding ecological awareness and humans’ affiliation with nature . By drawing on insights provided by phenomenology, and the two, interconnected, dimensions of embodiment and language, it is suggested that ‘stepping wisely’—as the framework suggests—may be more than just a metaphor for science education. Direct experiences of nature can afford new ways of being and thus real stepping; ‘walking’ and ‘sensing’ through the body are expression of humans’ inextricable connection with the natural systems. A sustainable approach to life on the Planet, therefore, becomes possible when established beliefs about science knowledge as a body of truths are revisited by asserting the primacy of movement, emotion and bio-physical perception in learning. This chapter argues for a critical science education supporting inventories of potent images for desired, sustainable futures.
We have a responsibilit y
to think of life in terms of both limits and crossroads, where
new intersections of technology, interpersonal relations,
desire, and imagination can sometimes, against all odds,
propel unexpected futures.
(Biehl & Locke, 2010, p. 318)
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Colucci-Gray, L. (2017). Science Education for a Better World? Reflections on Embodiment, Language and Sensitive Action. In: Bencze, L. (eds) Science and Technology Education Promoting Wellbeing for Individuals, Societies and Environments. Cultural Studies of Science Education, vol 14. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-55505-8_25
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