Connecting environmental education, science–technology–society and ecological theory: possible pathways to reduce socioenvironmental problems

Abstract

Social practices influence the production, application, and values of modern Science and Technology (S&T). The epistemological integration of science, ideology, and politics produces a complexity that is able to restore the capacity of science to deal with complex problems from several levels. Therefore, it is arguable that scientific education should be effectively committed to instrumentalization for citizenship, as well as to avoid misinterpretations, distortions, and social exclusion. This theoretical study aims to provide a useful guideline for teachers, scientists, and decision-makers focusing on the importance of education and general scientific training on conservation efforts, as to encourage the teaching classes to expand the conceptual framework by encompassing the sociopolitical outspread of S&T. The theoretical foundation was conducted based on two dimensions of Science, Technology, and Society (STS) within scientific education. We created some examples based on phytoplankton biogeochemical dynamics and coral reef conservation to fetch the integration of STS with ecological theory, which can be easily transposed into other subjects or disciplines. The discussion follows the logic that science popularization is a valuable tool for environmental education and a strategy for social inclusion in Brazil. However, the curriculum is an important mechanism driving scholar practices that demands further improvements, besides the academic training of the teachers and the support of the didactic textbooks. Finally, we encourage a policy of science popularization, designed to enlarge individual comprehension of our modern world, to stimulate public participation in decision-making, likewise, to reduce social exclusion and combat structural racism.

Keywords

• social inclusion; environmental problems; conservation; socio-scientific controversy.