Abstract
In this chapter, we focus on the global need for sustainable development. The increasing awareness that the quality of education is critical for sustainable development has led authors in high-quality science and science education journals to call for the improvement of education. Yet, the different often-simultaneously proposed educational approaches that can be found in science journals commonly are grounded in epistemologies that mitigate against the very attitudes that are to be propagated. That is, they call for reproducible and testable science education to which epicized images of science are inherent. This contrasts with an education into science as a novelizing discourse in which students learn to act in their own lifeworld and hence to participate in the construction of images of science. To overcome such contradictions, we present a form of science education rooted in a holistic epistemology that is grounded in human evolution and the notion of collective human activity as the pivotal unit of individuals’ transaction with the natural world. Drawing on data from an environmental education project, we exemplify how this epistemology allows a dual contribution to both the improvement of education and sustainable development. As such, we rethink the epistemological underpinnings of science education as a means to contribute to novelizing discourse, resulting in a science education as a form of sustainable development.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Barton, A. C. (2002). Urban science education studies: A commitment to equity, social justice and a sense of place. Studies in Science Education, 38, 1–38.
Collectif Chimie Cégep Limoilou. (1998). Partageons nos connaissances: des élèves rencontrent la population des quartiers populaires. Guide d’activités scientifiques à l’intention des enseignants et des enseignantes de sciences [Sharing our knowledge: Students meet the inhabitants of working-class areas. A guide to scientific activities intended for teachers and teachers of science]. Québec, QUE: Collège d’enseignement général et professionnel de Limoilou.
Roth, W.-M. (2010c). Activism: A category for theorizing learning. Canadian Journal of Science, Mathematics, and Technology Education, 10, 278–291.
Roth, W.-M., & Barton, A. C. (2004). Rethinking scientific literacy. New York: Routledge.
Roth, W.-M., & Lee, Y.-J. (2007). “Vygotsky’s neglected legacy”: Cultural-historical activity theory. Review of Educational Research, 77, 186–232.
Blumstein, D. T., & Saylan, C. (2007). The failure of environmental education (and how we can fix it). PLoS Biology, 5, 973–977.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2013 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
van Eijck, M., Roth, WM. (2013). Science Education for Sustainable Development. In: Imagination of Science in Education. Cultural Studies of Science Education, vol 7. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-5392-1_8
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-5392-1_8
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-94-007-5391-4
Online ISBN: 978-94-007-5392-1
eBook Packages: Humanities, Social Sciences and LawPhilosophy and Religion (R0)