Developing Enlightened Citizens Through Environmental Education

• In Event: 56.053 - Developing Environmental Citizens: Leveraging Disciplinary Strengths to Address an Interdisciplinary Challenge

Abstract

Background and Framework

Current research on the nexus between science education and democratic education is more robust in European democracies like the United Kingdom and the Netherlands than in the U. S. (e.g., Leenders & Veugelers, 2006; Levinson, 2010; Veugelers, 2011), but science and environmental educators in the U.S. have noted an increasing need for similar types of work here (Sadler, 2011). Even as the field inches toward understanding how to help students become empowered science literate citizens, little is known about whether science teachers help their students grapple with the socio-scientific (e.g., energy crises, global warming) and sociopolitical (e.g., energy company collusion, environmental policies) issues that they will face as adults. Even less is known about how teachers help students make the connection between science and empowered democracy (Levinson, 2010).

Research Question

In an effort to understand how students develop into enlightened citizens through science, this study investigates how a small group of environmental science educators engage their students in thinking about both socio-scientific (i.e., science and society) and sociopolitical (i.e., science and politics) issues through science education. Thus, the main research question is: How does a small group of environmental science teachers help their students become more empowered and enlightened citizens through their environmental science courses?

Methods

This study examines the best practices of three environmental science teachers who help their students engage as citizens in thinking about sociopolitical issues (e.g., how good science contributes to good policies). Teacher interviews and classroom observations are analyzed using constant comparative method (Creswell, 2007) to elucidate themes about how these teachers think about sociopolitical issues, how they incorporate these issues into the science that they teach, and how they help students see the connection between environmental science and sociopolitical issues.

Findings and Implications

Major findings include: (1) pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) (Shulman, 1986) plays an important role in helping teachers frame environmental issues as sociopolitical issues; (2) even with robust PCK, environmental science teachers need extra support in empowering students to become more active citizens around environmental issues; (3) teachers tend to avoid controversial environmental issues and debates in fear of “watering down” scientific objectivity. Based on these findings, this paper also presents a preliminary framework for teaching about sociopolitical issues in science classrooms. This ‘democratic education through science’ framework may help the field better understand the connection between environmental science and democratic empowerment. It may be used it to investigate how students make sense of the connection between environmental issues and the democratic process.
Even though policy makers around the world hope that scientific literacy will help students make better decisions as citizens in a democracy, it is unclear whether the connection between science literacy and a responsible citizenry is transparent to students. Using a framework to examine this connection may produce future professional development or science curricula that can help teachers support students’ active engagement in sociopolitical issues through environmental science education.

Author

• Jane C Lo, Florida State University