Images of the Environment Communicated in the Next Generation Science Standards

• In Event: 66.080 - Roundtable Session 26
  In Roundtable Session: 66.080-9 - Researching Domains in STEM and Diversity in Environmental Education

Abstract

In this paper we examine how the performance expectations (PEs) in the Next Generation Science Standards position the environment using critical discourse analysis (Fairclough, 2010) and textual analysis (Bazerman, 2006). We analyzed the PEs for four areas: 1) description of environment, 2) description of organisms, 3) causes, effects, and impacts of environmental problems, and 4) type of rhetorical argument, such as descriptive, moral, or persuasive (Bazerman, 2006). We identify patterns within and across these areas to describe the various ways the standards compartmentalize people and their actions from the environment. Finally, we discuss the implications of this work on the existing tensions between environmental education and science education (e.g. Gough, 2008) while highlighting opportunities for the field of EE.

Authors

• Elizabeth Hufnagel, University of Pittsburgh

• Gregory J. Kelly, The Pennsylvania State University