Abstract
The 2019 Global Environmental Outlook Report released by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP 2019) notes unprecedented environmental challenges: global population explosion, rampant urbanization, economic contractions fueling trade wars, diverse conflicts resulting in large-scale migration and refugee surges, and the wicked problem of climate change. We are living in times when we must increase future generations’ likelihood of living in an ecologically balanced environment. Whilst environmental issues have long overcome territorial and geographical barriers, consisting currently of global problems which require global political unity, for example, global pandemics, water scarcity, global warming, and ocean contamination, there is also an onus on every member of local communities to respond to these challenges. Such responsiveness is enhanced through early engagement with science, such that scientific thinking becomes everyday thinking, allowing individuals from an early age to develop the agency that is required to promote and act in ecologically sustainable ways. In an endeavor to support this proposition, we have introduced into the science specialization strand of the elementary education degree a course that will enable prospective elementary teachers to bring science into elementary children’s daily deliberations and actions. Course content is designed to increase the capacity of elementary pre-service teachers, who typically lack confidence in science, to not only deliver effective science instruction but also take leadership roles in promoting and supporting science in their school. Anecdotally, the course has resulted in very positive perceptions in the pre-service teacher cohort, raising their enthusiasm and engagement for science teaching that is contextually relevant to their school students’ lives.
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Boon, H.J., Rigano, D. (2023). Everyday Science for Building Schoolchildren’s Informed Agency for Action. In: Thomas, G.P., Boon, H.J. (eds) Challenges in Science Education. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-18092-7_6
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