Page 208 - Cultural Studies of Science Education

Chapter 1
The Need for Confluence: Why a “River”
Runs Through It

Deborah J. Tippins and Michael P. Mueller

In the recently released The World of Science Education: Handbook of Research in
North America (Roth and Tobin 2009), Regina Smardon (2009) provides a brief
history of sociocultural and cultural-historical frameworks for science education.
Smardon’s key point is to bring together sociocultural and cultural-historical activity
theories in science education to analyze the complexity of cultural staying power,
change, and individual and collective agency. This book builds on sociocultural
theory by enlarging the conversation around the ecosociocultural confluence of eco-
justice, indigenous knowledge systems, and a sense of place, and demonstrates how
they also lead to a greater participatory democracy. Creating participatory democ-
racy through cultural studies and environmentalism is in line with this mission of
confluence, situations where we participate and advocate through actions.

Considering Confluence

Our lives are filled with many examples of confluence. Science-fiction writers and
readers gather annually at their confluence convention to share new visions and
ways of expressing their literary ideas. At the Biannual Confluence Conference
sponsored by the Chesapeake Bay Foundation participants discuss the significance
of resource conservation. Confluence is a theme central to the annual meetings of
the Surface Design Association. And recent developments and innovations in com-
munications technology have led to the creation of Confluence, a social networking
platform. It is no coincidence that the notion of confluence, defined in the classical
geological sense as “the flowing together of two or more streams,” has inspired

D.J. Tippins
Department of Mathematics & Science Education, University of Georgia,
Aderhold Hall 212, 30602-7124 Athens, Georgia, USA

D.J. Tippins et al. (eds.), Cultural Studies and Environmentalism, 1
Cultural Studies of Science Education Vol. 3, DOI 10.1007/978-90-481-3929-3_1,
© Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2010