Toward Critical Public Consciousness in STEM Education: Inter/Transnational Perspectives

Session Type: Symposium

Abstract

It seems that much of the world is enmeshed in a vast and complex network of living, nonliving and symbolic entities that have effectively funneled wealth and wellbeing towards small fractions of societies — at the expense of impoverishment of many people and biotic and abiotic environments. Many benefits accrued by elite appear to arise largely through compromises to public education — preparing citizens, for example, for roles as receivers of work instructions and as consumers of commodities. Given their key roles in socio-economic practices, influences on education regarding fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (‘STEM’) seems crucial. In this symposium, six authors from five countries explore relevant issues and theory-informed suggestions for more democratic STEM education forms.

Sub Unit

• SIG-Critical Issues in Curriculum and Cultural Studies

Chair

• John Lawrence Bencze, OISE/University of Toronto

Papers

• Toward Decolonial Pedagogies in Science Education - Lyn Catherine Carter, Australian Catholic University

• Science Teacher Education as a Praxis of Being Human: Retheorizing Critical Science Teaching Through Sylvia Wynter - Matthew Weinstein, University of Washington - Tacoma

• Revealing Injustice in Technoscience: The Case for Critical Realism - Ralph Levinson, University College London

• School Experiences That Defy the Modern/Postmodern Divide - Isabel Martins, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro

• Interpretation of Two Ongoing Socioscientific Controversies in Quebec (Canada) Through Callon's Citizenship Models - Chantal Pouliot, Université Laval

• Students Actively Addressing STEM-Related Harms: Visions of the Possible - John Lawrence Bencze, OISE/University of Toronto