Against Mere Science Literacy in Environmental Education

• In Event: 26.056 - Challenging the Discourse of Environmental Education: Tropes, Metaphors, Boundaries

Abstract

The debate concerning how best to prepare students to grapple with environmental issues is often polarized between those who endorse a science literacy approach, in which the priority is preparing students to think like scientists, and those who endorse some form of an advocacy approach, in which the priority is influencing students’ environmental behaviors. This philosophical paper argues that this polarization is misconceived. Today’s environmental dilemmas require an integrated approach in which students learn to reason competently across a range of disciplines relevant to environmental decision-making, including the humanities.

Author

• Matt Ferkany, Michigan State University