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Questions Socialement Vives and Socio-scientific Issues: New Trends of Research to Meet the Training Needs of Postmodern Society

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Topics and Trends in Current Science Education

Part of the book series: Contributions from Science Education Research ((CFSE,volume 1))

Abstract

At a time when numerous crises are undermining the status of (techno-) science, the teaching of Questions Socialement Vives (Socially Acute Questions, or SAQs) has an important role in preparing students for the postmodern risk society. The field of SAQs represents a French orientation for the teaching of socio-scientific issues (SSIs). Teaching about SAQs raises the question of the interdependence of the cognitive, affective and judgemental (axiological) components of education and training. It is particularly challenging for teachers because the content (often non-stabilised and contested) transcends traditional disciplinary borders to include professional and social knowledge. After identifying similarities between SAQs and SSIs, this chapter presents details of an SAQ approach. Then it develops the main components related to the teaching of socio-scientific questions into a single scheme. This scheme could be used by researchers to help them visualise the complexity of the orientations and to position their own work within this area. The didactics of SAQs/SSIs can have a variety of objectives that usually include scientific literacy although in some cases political literacy is also a goal. Central to this latter goal is an analysis of patterns or forms of political and economic governance, decision-making and action (activism) in specific contexts. The different epistemological postures that can influence the teaching strategies of these questions are presented, and a provisional grid to compare or assess the socio-scientific reasoning when discussing SAQs is developed.

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Acknowledgements

The author would like to thank Bev France (University of Auckland) and Jenny Lewis (University of Leeds) for their help in the translation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Ecole Nationale de Formation Agronomique – Université de Toulouse, UMR EFTS, Toulouse, France

    Laurence Simonneaux

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  1. Laurence Simonneaux
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Correspondence to Laurence Simonneaux .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. EA 4148 S2HEP, University of Lyon 1, ENS-Lyon, University of Lyon, Villeurbanne Cedex, France

    Catherine Bruguière

  2. UMR ICAR, CNRS, UMR ICAR, CNRS, University of Lyon 2, ENS-Lyon, Lyon Cedex 07, France

    Andrée Tiberghien

  3. EA 4148 S2HEP, University of Lyon 1, ENS-Lyon, University of Lyon, Villeurbanne Cedex, France

    Pierre Clément

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Simonneaux, L. (2014). Questions Socialement Vives and Socio-scientific Issues: New Trends of Research to Meet the Training Needs of Postmodern Society. In: Bruguière, C., Tiberghien, A., Clément, P. (eds) Topics and Trends in Current Science Education. Contributions from Science Education Research, vol 1. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-7281-6_3

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