Page 334 - Cultural Studies of Science Education
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308                                                     D.B. Zandvliet

            technological issues only within prescribed or predetermined limits (Sammel and
            Zandvliet  2003).  Environmental  learning  of  this  kind  is  viewed  as  a  modified
            “science education.” Without the inclusion of an important sociocultural compo-
            nent, environmental learning of this kind maintains and promotes only hegemonic
            beliefs and values while not addressing collateral problems relating to scientific
            developments. Environmental learning (broadly defined) can seek to promote an
            understanding of scientific and environmental issues in the wider interdisciplinary
            context and in particular provide a model for the interpretation of curriculum in
            local communities. To make this happen educators must look outside the traditions
            of classic curriculum reform and insist on the adoption of place-based and socially
            relevant strategies that make scientific (and environmental) issues readily accessi-
            ble to communities. McBean and Hengeveld (2000) state:
              Society in general, accumulates and processes knowledge through experience, perception
              and intuition. Thus new information and facts are best understood and assimilated if these
              are placed within the context of the existing knowledge and past experience of the indi-
              vidual or community. (p. 5)
            To summarize, a “scientific” environmental education can be seen as another
            case of reactive change dominated by technical influences. To counter this influ-
            ence a consideration of science and environment should begin on a personal level,
            assisting  students  in  learning  about  their  own  community  while  aiding  in  their
            understandings of scientific ideas relevant to their own personal context. Essentially,
            content learning would focus on defining a notion of community and with sense-
            making  activities  within  more  personally  defined  (or  value-laden)  contexts.
            Environmental learning of this nature has been described as an interdisciplinary
            endeavor addressing multiple themes including complexity as well as themes such
            as aesthetics, social responsibility, and ethics (Ministry of Education 2007).



            Socioscientific Issues-Based (SSI) Approaches


            In recent years, the discourse within science education has broadened from earlier
            STS/STSE views of scientific and technological issues to include a discussion of
            how science and societies share a more complex interdependence. This academic
            dialogue at once acknowledges that scientific research agendas are frequently based
            on  the  perceived  needs  of  society.  However,  it  also  acknowledges  that  in  other
            instances, the pursuit and development of science helps shape and influence the
            development  of  social  norms.  For  example,  perceived  social  needs  such  as  the
            desire  to  eliminate  disease  and  improve  agricultural  productivity  have  also  led
            scientists to develop techniques for harvesting stem cells and genetically modifying
            organisms. As a result, these technologies have given rise to a host of ethical quan-
            daries as well as having presented new norms that society must now struggle with
            and for which there may be no solutions (Sadler and Zeidler 2005).
              The  inclusion  of  socioscientific  issues  in  curriculum  is  distinguishable  from
            earlier STS/STSE approaches as it considers the ethical and moral implications that
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