Changing of the (Van)Guard: Leaving Behind Apolitical Science Education

• In Event: From Memory to Movement: SECRET Work to Advance Science Literacy

Abstract

Historically, science educators have been reluctant to participate in grassroots movements for racial and social justice. At the same time, they have asserted the importance of our field in addressing socio-technical crises like climate change or pandemic. The current political moment makes clear the hypocrisy of these stances. Therefore, as our field righteously defends diversity, equity, and inclusion, we also have an opportunity to build consensus that our work is inherently and permanently political. We have an opportunity to follow an emerging vanguard in places where transformative science education is currently most viable – in big cities (especially in communities of color) and in international contexts (especially in the Global South) that have long been pathologized or ignored by science education.

Author

• Daniel Morales-Doyle, University of Illinois at Chicago