Rethinking Scientific Literacy

by Wolff-Michael Roth, Angela Calabrese Barton

Overview

Rethinking Scientific Literacy presents a new perspective on science learning as a tool for improving communities. By focusing on case studies inside and outside of the classroom, the authors illuminate the relevance of science in students' everyday lives, offering a new vision of scientific literacy that is inextricably linked with social responsibility and community development. The goal if not tote memorization of facts and theories, but a broader competency in scientific thinking and the ability to generate positive change.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781135934934
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	05/01/2004
Series:	Critical Social Thought
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	240
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Wolff-Michael Roth is Lansdowne Professor, Applied Cognitive Science and Science Education, University of Victoria.
Angela Calabrese Barton is Associate Professor of Science Education and Director of Science Education, Department of Math, Science, and Technology, Teachers College, Columbia University.

Table of Contents

1. Science as Collective Praxis, Literacy, Power, and Struggle for a Better World 2. Scientific Literacy as Emergent Feature of Collective Praxis 3. Scientific Literacy, Hegemony, and Struggle 4. Politics, Power, and Science in Inner-City Communities 5. Margin and Center 6. Constructing Scientific Dis/Ability 7. Science Education as and for Citizen Science 8. Dangerous Teaching: Using Science as Tool and Context for Social Justice

Editorial Reviews

"In a series of detailed and personal case studies from around the world, Wolff-Michael Roth and Angela Barton show what happens if we rethink what we mean by 'science literacy.' This rethinking, which focuses on how real people use scientific knowledge in their daily lives, has profound implications for education and for society at large. The authors draw on a wide range of disciplines, reflecting current debates in politics, sociology, philosophy of science, education, and other fields—as well as the literature of native peoples, modern poetry, and a host of other sources. Scholars, policy-makers, and citizens will be responding to this book for many years." — Bruce V. Lewenstein, Associate Professor of Science Communication, Cornell University
"Two of the world's leading scholars in science education combine to produce a book that takes a fresh look at scientific literacy. The book encourages researchers, teacher educators, and policy makers to set aside deficit perspectives on teachers and students and to connect formal science curricula to funds of knowledge that are developed in fields away from classrooms. This book invites us to examine science education in relation to social justice and identify hegemonies that create and maintain success and failure along the borders of race, ethnicity, and class." — Kenneth Tobin, Distinguished Professor of Urban Education, City University of New York

From the Publisher