Educating for Citizenship: Reappraising the Role of Science Education

New discoveries and technological inventions render the world increasingly complex. Fostering students’ scientific and technological literacy has, therefore, become a primary goal for many science educators. Yet the concept of scientific literacy is itself not at all clear. In this article, we contest the dominant approach, which defines scientific literacy in terms of what scientists produce or do. We argue that a more viable approach begins by framing a more general project of (democratic) citizenship and asks what kind of scientific literacy can contribute to this project. The different parts of our argument are illustrated with data from a three-year ethnographic study of science in one community. These data feature adult residents who were dealing with the contested issue of whether or not to extend the existing water main in order to supply with water a part of the community that, at the time, had to rely on seasonally contaminated wells. Irrespective of their science background, these citizens engaged scientists. We argue that educating for citizenship presupposes participation in democratic processes, a stance that has considerable implications for science education.