ESERA SIGs

ESERA SIG 8 FUTURES-oriented Science Education

SIG 8 offers a space to collectively discuss FUTURES-oriented science education and how “futurizing” science education implies reconsidering the epistemic foundations of science. This SIG aims to offer a platform to consider, in this juncture in history, the profound societal and environmental transformations that are influencing every aspect of our lives, spanning from economic, political, social, and cultural elements to the deepest realms of our most intimate personal, emotional, and affective experiences. These changes reflect not only planetary and societal realities but also affect the content of our research aspirations in science education and science studies, since they touch on the heart of the relationships between science, technology, nature, and human beings. The emerging landscape of research necessitates that we question the traditional epistemological foundations of scientific thought on which the project of modernity was grounded since the Enlightenment in the 18th century and on which our educational systems are based.

In the SIG we will discuss, from epistemological, sociological, axiological, and educational points of view, the intricate interplay between scientific advancements, new societal uncertainties, and visions of the futures. Education-oriented analyses of the epistemological foundations of science will be stimulated to recover patterns of thinking that are in tune with sustainable ways of being. Networking activities will be also carried out with other research fields, like the fields of History, Philosophy and Sociology of Science (HPS), Science and Technology Studies (STS), Futures Studies and, more in general, all the research fields that are involved in interpreting the “great derangements” we are experiencing (including arts, sociology, philosophy, anthropology, and policy). In the activities of the SIG (seminars, workshops, symposia, study groups), we will address questions like:

• How is science education impacted by the new scientific knowledge and technologies that characterize our complex society? How is the nature of science questioned by technological and societal transformations?
• What epistemic foundations of science are particularly relevant today to promote equity and a sustainable future in our risk society, characterized by acceleration, uncertainty, and complexity
• How can science be analyzed and transformed into a fruitful source of knowledge and skills needed to cope with an opaque future, embrace complexity and deal with uncertainty?

Coordinators

Olivia Levrini, University of Bologna (Italy)

Mauricio Pietrocola Pinto de Oliveira, University of São Paulo (Brazil)

Advisory Board

Laura Branchetti, University of Milan (Italy)

Sibel Erduran University of Oxford (UK)

Shulamit Kapon, Technion (Israel)

Antti Laherto, University of Helsinki (Finland)

Wonyong Park, University of Southampton (UK)