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Introduction: A Broad Look at Contextualization of Science Education Across National Contexts

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Book cover International Perspectives on the Contextualization of Science Education

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Abstract

Scientific literacy should be accessible to every child and adolescent as part of their right to quality education. Unfortunately, many science learning materials present phenomena and examples that are only familiar to students from mainstream cultural backgrounds in affluent countries. Without examples of how to make science relevant for children and adolescents of all ethnic and language backgrounds and of all socioeconomic status and nationalities, teachers will see themselves ill-prepared to educate the next generation of citizens that can effectively respond to challenges such as climate change, public health, and sustainable agriculture, among others. All children and adolescents must become scientifically literate to respond to such challenges, especially the most marginalized, who are often the most affected by these issues. Against this backdrop, this book offers diverse examples of how to make science education significant and useful for learners in diverse scenarios and contexts in different parts of the world. These examples are derived from rigorous studies demonstrating that the contextualization of science learning environments is essential for student engagement in learning science.

The examples presented in this book illustrate the value and challenges of contextualizing science education in a wide variety of national contexts and educational levels, allowing the reader to gain an international global perspective while exploring different under-studied contexts (e.g., the Galapagos Islands, the Aegean region of Turkey, and the highlands of Eastern Mexico, among others). Moreover, through the reflective chapters, the reader gains insight into how the proposed contextualization approaches are relevant for science teacher education, educational policy, and research in science education.

The views expressed in this chapter are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF)

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. UNICEF, New York, NY, USA

    Ingrid Sánchez Tapia

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  1. Ingrid Sánchez Tapia
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Correspondence to Ingrid Sánchez Tapia .

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  1. UNICEF, New York, NY, USA

    Ingrid Sánchez Tapia

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Sánchez Tapia, I. (2020). Introduction: A Broad Look at Contextualization of Science Education Across National Contexts. In: Sánchez Tapia, I. (eds) International Perspectives on the Contextualization of Science Education. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-27982-0_1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-27982-0_1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-27981-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-27982-0

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