Page 8 - Cultural Studies of Science Education

Foreword

Objectivity, experimental design, the scientific method – these have long been the
chestnuts of science education. But this emphasis on scientific remove, on there
being one right way to do things, belies the diversity of learners and cultures that
fill our schools, in North America and around the world. Cultural Studies and
Environmentalism: The Confluence of EcoJustice, Place-based (Science) Education,
and Indigenous Knowledge Systems is the counterpoint to this constrained, single-
minded view of science education. Instead of a one-size-fits-all mindset, it provides
a tapestry of perspectives on culturally sensitive science education. It opens our
minds to the reality that teaching science in rural Quebec, in agricultural Malawi,
in inner city Detroit is in some ways alike, but is in many ways crucially different.
If we do not attend to the differences, we lose the learners and the vital potential
for students shaping the communities they live in.
Browse through this collection of thought-provoking essays as if you are shop-
ping at your local farmer’s market in search of the distinct terroire of regional
cheeses, lost varieties of heirloom vegetables, unusual combinations of herbs and
spices. Terroire is a French term that describes the unique aspects of a place that
influence and shape the wine made there. But the term has spread from wine and
other beverages to refer to the unique flavor of locally grown and prepared foods.
So, if you’re attentive, you can tell the difference between the terroire of New York
Black Diamond cheddar and Vermont Grafton Farms cheddar because the local
grasses and bacteria that shape the culture of the milk are different in each location.
Similarly, when science and environmental education emerge out of real people,
issues, and places, it is fresh and uniquely flavored. It can open students’ eyes to
the life outside the door and it can reinvigorate local cultural traditions. The science
educators writing in this book, from Arizona to Australia, are bringing science
education alive through infusing it with the terroire of local people and places. They
are creating hope through providing opportunities for students to learn science
through making their lived-in communities better places.
Science education, in the later part of the twentieth century was about homog-
enization and standardization, about making sure that every student got fed the
same piece of denatured information in the same way on the same day. But this
assumed that all our students were the same color, from the same cultural traditions,
had the same opportunity for socioeconomic success. In the twenty-first century,

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