Page 220 - Cultural Studies of Science Education

194 D. Karrow and X. Fazio

Through a series of case studies, we describe how such a program is traditionally
implemented within a variety of school contexts.
The next section brings to the fore a discussion of place and education. We begin
by examining the ubiquitous nature of place meanings helpful to the succeeding dis-
cussion on PBE. The focus then shifts to examining PBE as a developing field of
practice by considering its definitions, major theorists in the field, theoretical defi-
ciencies, and philosophical influences, building an argument for a conception of place
founded upon the ontological realm. We conclude by highlighting NatureWatch’s
capacity to nurture some conceptions of place while marginalizing others.
In the following section we introduce the philosophy of Martin Heidegger
providing a detailed yet assessable overview of his seminal work Being and Time
(1962). Here we illustrate how his thought around the ontological realm and its
relationship with place could inform PBE theory. The last part of this section dem-
onstrates how care, as one of humanity’s characters of being, fundamentally shapes
and influences our relationship within the world. We then demonstrate instances
during NatureWatch implementation where a conception of place founded upon the
ontological realm could be nurtured. These examples are drawn from the aforemen-
tioned case studies field-testing NatureWatch within schools.
In the final section we examine the relationship between PBE theory and ecojus-
tice. After briefly defining ecojustice, we consider how an ontologically enhanced
theory of PBE prepares the ground for ecojustice. We synthesize the argument for
PBE theory to more adequately consider natural, cultural, and ontological realms
of experience. Reflecting back on our NatureWatch research we reiterate practical
pedagogical strategies to invoke the latter of these three realms.

An Overview of Citizen Science and NatureWatch

…citizen science… is a form of science that relates in reflexive ways to the concerns,
interests and activities of citizens as they go about their everyday business. (Jenkins 1999,
p. 704)
Citizen science is a form of science that relates dynamically “to concerns, interests
and activities” of common people engaged in their everyday lives. While there are
many examples of citizen science (Mueller and Tippins 2010) influenced by vary-
ing degrees of sociopolitical action, the example we focus on is NatureWatch.
NatureWatch is a suite of simple on-line ecological monitoring and assessment
network (EMAN) programs standardized through a partnership between
Environment Canada and Nature Canada. It presently consists of WormWatch,
PlantWatch, IceWatch, and FrogWatch. People with limited scientific background
(citizen scientists in the making) can implement these programs effectively and
confidently with minimal training.
Participants agree to follow each program’s unique protocol for collecting a certain
data set, whether identifying frog species by their unique call, collecting and identi-
fying earthworms and their ecology, observing ice-on/ice-off dates on bodies of