Disagreement as context for science-civic learning: an analysis of discursive resources brought to bear by high school science students

Amid a broader sociopolitical milieu of division, disagreement, and uncivil debate, this study investigates instances of disagreement among students in a high school science classroom as they attempt to answer the civic question of what should we do about climate change, a long contentious topic in the USA. Using a theoretical framework that frames relational practices and ideological positions as discursive resources, this study analyzes the resources youth bring to bear within disagreement. Through discourse analysis and qualitative coding of naturalistic moments of disagreement, this study shows that youth leverage diverse constellations of discursive resources when disagreeing over science-civic matters. From this analysis, I suggest paths forward in terms of research and practice in efforts to prepare young people for science-civic participation that will inevitably involve disagreement with others in one’s community.