Educating for Citizenship: Reappraising the Role of Science Education

New discoveries and technological inventions render the world increasingly complex. Fostering students’ scientific and technological literacy has therefore become a primary goal for many science educators. Yet the concept of scientific literacy is itself not at all clear. In this article, we contest the dominant approach, which defines scientific literacy in terms of what scientists produce or do. We argue that a more viable approach begins by framing a more general project of (democratic) citizenship and asks what kind of scientific literacy can contribute to this project. The different parts of our argument are illustrated with data from a three-year ethnographic study of science in one community. These data feature adult residents participating in the contested issue of whether to extend the existing watermain supply a part of the community with water that currently has to rely on seasonally contaminated wells. Irrespective of their science background, these citizens engage scientists. A politicized ethic of care (caring for) entails becoming actively involved in a local manifestation of a particular problem, exploring the complex sociopolitical contexts in which the problem is located, and attempting to resolve conflicts of interest. Preparing students for action necessarily means ensuring that they gain a clear understanding of how decisions are made within local, regional, and national government, and within industry and commerce. (Hodson, 1999, p. 789) Democratic citizenship is a core concept in many societies—the discourse of citizenship education shows up in the policies and curricula not only of Canada