Citizenship Education and Socioscientific Issues: Implicit Concept of Citizenship in the Curriculum, Views of French Middle School Teachers

Abstract

The educative goal of citizenship education through science education converges to the declared purpose of the SSI research movement. Socioscientific issues formulated in science education research covering topics as biotechnology, environmental issues, sustainable development, energy choices, have been introduced in French Middle Schools. But citizenship is often not clarified and can be multiple. After having clarified who is the citizen targeted by SSI research movement, the concept of citizen in the French curriculum needs to be clarify. What do these citizens have in common with the citizen that a sociology literature review let see oscillating between obedience and critical thinking has also been investigated. The paper also looks at the teachers’ views and their contribution to citizenship education through socioscientific topics described in the national curriculum. From the analysis, different teachers’ views of citizenship education have been highlighted: a normative citizenship education in connection with civility and rules and an emancipatory citizenship education to develop pupils’ skills such as searching and evaluating information, argumentation and critical thinking in order to enable pupils to build their own argued opinion and to participate to public debates. This last emancipatory view of citizenship education is congruent with the aim of social empowerment within the SSI research movement.