Reconsidering Different Visions of Scientific Literacy and Science Education Based on the Concept of Bildung

Abstract

Over the last 50 years, policy makers and STEM educators have argued for Scientific Literacy (SL). SL is a typical boundary object that everyone can agree on, but that is filled with different meanings by different stakeholders. Roberts (as published in Abell SK, Lederman NG (eds), Handbook of research on science education. Lawrence Erlbaum, Mahwah, pp. 729–780, 2007) has identified two main orientations of SL: Vision I starts from and focuses on scientific content and scientific processes to learn about corresponding applications later, while Vision II focuses on contextualizing scientific knowledge for giving its use in life and society meaning. The tension between Vision I and II can also be related to the tension between “pipeline science – preparing future scientists” and “science for all”. Recently, a more advanced vision of SL was suggested. It is called Vision III and emphasizes philosophical values, politicization and critical global citizenship education. Such an orientation can be well justified by the Central/Northern European educational and cultural tradition called Bildung. In its most contemporary understanding, it is agency-oriented. Bildung-oriented science education aims at making the student capable of a self-determined life in his/her socio-cultural environment, participation in a democratic society, and of empathy and solidarity with others. This concept is also closely connected to more recent educational paradigms that were defined also beyond Europe, e.g. the ideas of Education for Sustainability (EfS) and transformative learning. Both concepts aim on skills development for critical-democratic participation and for shaping our society and culture in a sustainable way. The different visions of SL have consequences for the content and culture of teaching and learning of science and technology. Accepting Vision III requires awareness that our view of selecting and teaching certain content is dependent on our culture, for example our norms, values and worldviews, and on the society we are living in. Learning (cognition) must be complemented with not only meta-learning (metacognition), but also transformative learning, where things are considered from multifaceted (e.g., cultural) perspectives. The discussion in this chapter focuses on educational implications of Vision III of SL and its connection to critical-reflexive Bildung, EfS and transformative learning.