Abstract
Social practices influence the production, application, and values of modern Science and Technology (S&T). The epistemological integration of science, ideology, and politics produces a complexity that is able to restore the capacity of science to deal with complex problems from several levels. Therefore, it is arguable that scientific education should be effectively committed to instrumentalization for citizenship, as well as to avoid misinterpretations, distortions, and social exclusion. This theoretical study aims to provide a useful guideline for teachers, scientists, and decision-makers focusing on the importance of education and general scientific training on conservation efforts, as to encourage the teaching classes to expand the conceptual framework by encompassing the sociopolitical outspread of S&T. The theoretical foundation was conducted based on two dimensions of Science, Technology, and Society (STS) within scientific education. We created some examples based on phytoplankton biogeochemical dynamics and coral reef conservation to fetch the integration of STS with ecological theory, which can be easily transposed into other subjects or disciplines. The discussion follows the logic that science popularization is a valuable tool for environmental education and a strategy for social inclusion in Brazil. However, the curriculum is an important mechanism driving scholar practices that demands further improvements, besides the academic training of the teachers and the support of the didactic textbooks. Finally, we encourage a policy of science popularization, designed to enlarge individual comprehension of our modern world, to stimulate public participation in decision-making, likewise, to reduce social exclusion and combat structural racism.
Highlights
Improving scientific teaching has been a major concern in Brazil (El-Hani and Greca, 2013)
We presented a theoretical discussion with the aim to provide a useful guideline for teachers, scientists, and decision-makers by recognizing the importance of education and general scientific training on conservation efforts, as well as to encourage the teaching classes to expand the conceptual framework by encompassing the sociopolitical outspread of Science and Technology (S&T) within environmental education
We proposed an activity based on local news regarding coral reef losses over the last 50 years in the Northeast Region of Brazil
Summary
Improving scientific teaching has been a major concern in Brazil (El-Hani and Greca, 2013). Both the movement and studies on Science, Technology, and Society (STS) originated around the 1970s as a result of efforts to reflect on the impacts that S&T has on society (Santos and Schnetzler, 1997; Ribeiro et al, 2017) From such a perspective, “war” served as a motto to rethink the euphoria caused by scientific and technological developments adjoined to environmental problems and the advancement of S&T as a contrary response to the current idea of a neutral and linear scientific progress (González García et al, 1996; Auler and Bazzo, 2001), instead of recognizing the multiscale effects of political decisions on sustainability for a balanced development (Andriantiatsaholiniaina et al, 2004)
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