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STEPWISE: A Framework Prioritizing Altruistic Actions to Address Socioscientific Issues

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Science and Technology Education Promoting Wellbeing for Individuals, Societies and Environments

Part of the book series: Cultural Studies of Science Education ((CSSE,volume 14))

Abstract

Wellbeing of individuals, societies and environments seem greatly threatened from associations among powerful members of societies and fields of science and technology. Seemingly despite science research findings indicating, for instance, health problems (e.g., diabetes, heart disease and cancer) linked to additives (e.g., sugars, preservatives, salts & fats) in manufactured foods and potentially dramatic losses of life and displacement of communities due to climate change linked to excessive fossil fuel uses, governments and others often struggle to minimize or eliminate such problems. Consequently, it seems imperative that science educators and others work to help citizens to become more vigilant in monitoring potential harms associated with relationships among fields of science and technology and societies and environments and, where such harms are identified by them, prepared to take actions to try to bring about what they perceive to be a better world. Such goals seem difficult to achieve, however, in light of apparent deep and lengthy traditions of emphases in school science on relatively didactic instructional practices that often appear to glorify processes and products of fields of science and technology in mainly attempting to identify and educate relatively few students who may become professionals in such fields. This edited collection, however, perhaps provides educators and others with hope that—based on the ‘STEPWISE’ curricular and instructional frameworks—young people can be educated to more critically examine science and technology and take actions to address associated problems of concern to them. In this first chapter following the Foreword (1), an account of development of and theoretical bases for these frameworks is provided—along with brief descriptions of chapters in this volume in which corresponding science education practices are described. The chapter finishes with mention of chapters in this volume written by scholars who, in light of various theoretical perspectives, find support for and/or alternatives to STEPWISE-informed pedagogical practices.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE), University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada

    Larry Bencze

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  1. Larry Bencze
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  1. Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE), University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

    Larry Bencze

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Bencze, L. (2017). STEPWISE: A Framework Prioritizing Altruistic Actions to Address Socioscientific Issues. In: Bencze, L. (eds) Science and Technology Education Promoting Wellbeing for Individuals, Societies and Environments. Cultural Studies of Science Education, vol 14. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-55505-8_2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-55505-8_2

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