The Utility of Science in the Globally Unsustainable Society
Primary researcher
Dr. Gordon Robinson, Faculty of Science, University of Manitoba
Description of proposed research
Students, as individuals and global citizens, are required to make decisions and take actions that create a more sustainable world and require tools that will help them to become strategic thinkers. To this end the goals of this proposal are to firstly develop resources (and indeed curriculum) for middle and senior years teachers which will
assist students to understand that they are a part of the unfolding global environmental tragedy and not separate from it. Sophisticated and comprehensive resources for this abound (e.g. The U.N. sponsored Millennial Assessment) and certainly these resources will have a high scientific content, albeit in a holistic context that is very likely the most realistic view of reality, while being in keeping with the
science, technology, society and environment (STSE) context of the Pan Canadian Science Framework. Having made this connection, the second aspect of this proposal will be the development of resources and curriculum designed such that young people may likely see that scientific endeavor can be rationally focused on moving the structures, activities, and organizations of society towards sustainability and that this can be done proactively rather than by inevitable default. Young people are not just part of the problem but they can be an integral part of its solution. The resources to be developed will be modeled after the activities of the internationally recognized Natural
Step. The Natural Step’s activities towards sustainability are simply based on re-designing the future based on simple widely reviewed and accepted first order principles that accurately describe the nature of natural systems.
It is proposed that this activity will engage two graduate students (one to work with middle years teachers and the other to work with senior years teachers).
The proposed activity associated with this project will align well with Manitoba science education initiatives. The proposed curriculum resources potentially align with MECY sustainability curriculum development and place a priority on science education to engage students in patterns of thinking that encourage less reductionist approaches that grow science knowledge without limits and for its own parochial purposes, and more of an holistic, systems interactive view.
Measures of success will be somewhat quantitative through altered trajectories of students toward Science, but also qualitative by student and teacher interviews to reveal the impact of curriculum material on the utility of Science in a sustainability context. The proposal clearly is part of Tier D of Letter of Intent.
Collaborating partners
Dr. Christina MacDonald, Sustainable Development Coordinator, Manitoba Education, Citizenship and Youth
The Canadian arm of the International Natural Step Organization
Timeline
Its duration will involve Year 1 and Year 2 for the development of resources and
Year 3 for implementation and evaluation.
