Table Of ContentDebates in Science Education
This fully revised second edition of Debates in Science Education explores the
major issues that science teachers encounter in teaching their subject, encouraging
the reader to make their own informed judgements and argue their point of view
with deeper theoretical knowledge and understanding.
Brand new chapters written by a team of international experts provide fresh
insight into topics of central importance when teaching science. Written to aid and
inspire beginning teachers, current teachers and established subject leaders, these
focused chapters are essential to anyone wishing to deepen their understanding of
salient issues within school science education, including:
• STEAM education;
• sustainability and climate change;
• science and sensitive issues;
• equity and diversity;
• science and sex education;
• science and religion;
• science and pedagogy (including science inquiry);
• transition from primary to secondary school.
Encouraging critical refection and aiming to stimulate both novice and experienced
teachers, this book is a valuable resource for any student or practicing teacher and
particularly those engaged in continuing professional development or Master’s
level study.
Justin Dillon is Professor of Science and Environmental Education at UCL.
He was President of the European Science Education Research Association
from 2007–11 and is currently President of the UK National Association for
E nvironmental Education.
Mike Watts is Professor of Education at Brunel University London. He was
awarded a National Teaching Fellowship in 2005, is a Fellow of the Institute
of Physics and is a council member of the National Conference of University
Professors.
Debates in Subject Teaching
Series Edited by Susan Capel, Jon Davison and James Arthur
Each title in the Debates in Subject Teaching series presents high-quality mate-
rial, specially commissioned to stimulate teachers engaged in initial teacher edu-
cation, continuing professional development and Master’s level study to think
more deeply about their practice, and link research and evidence to what they
have observed in schools. By providing up-to-date, comprehensive coverage the
books in the series support teachers in reaching their own informed judgements,
enabling them to discuss and argue their point of view with deeper theoretical
knowledge and understanding.
Debates in Mathematics Education, 2nd edition
Edited by Gwen Ineson and Hilary Povey
Debates in Primary Education
Edited by Virginia Bower
Debates in Art and Design Education, 2nd edition
Edited by Nicholas Addison and Lesley Burgess
Debates in Second Language Education, 1st edition
Edited by Ernesto Macaro and Robert Woore
Debates in Science Education, 2nd edition
Edited by Justin Dillon and Mike Watts
Debates in Design and Technology Education, 2nd edition
Edited by Alison Hardy
For more information about this series, please visit: www.routledge.com/Debates-in-
Subject-Teaching/book-series/DIST
Debates in Science Education
Second Edition
Edited by Justin Dillon and
Mike Watts
Cover image: © Carsten Koall / Stringer / Getty Images
Second edition published 2023
by Routledge
4 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa
business
© 2023 selection and editorial matter, Justin Dillon and Mike
Watts; individual chapters, the contributors
The right of Justin Dillon and Mike Watts to be identified as
the authors of the editorial material, and of the authors for
their individual chapters, has been asserted in accordance with
sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act
1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted
or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic,
mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented,
including photocopying and recording, or in any information
storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from
the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be
trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for
identification and explanation without intent to infringe.
First edition published by Routledge 2014
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Dillon, Justin, editor. | Watts, Mike, editor.
Title: Debates in science education / edited by Justin Dillon and
Mike Watts.
Description: Second edition. | Abingdon, Oxon ; New York, NY :
Routledge, 2023. | Series: Debates in subject teaching | Includes
bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2022014973 (print) | LCCN 2022014974
(ebook) | ISBN 9780367685157 (paperback) | ISBN
9780367685140 (hardback) | ISBN 9781003137894 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Science—Study and teaching. | Science teachers—
In-service training.
Classification: LCC LB1585 .D39 2023 (print) | LCC LB1585
(ebook) | DDC 507.1—dc23/eng/20220330
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022014973
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022014974
ISBN: 978-0-367-68514-0 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-0-367-68515-7 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-003-13789-4 (ebk)
DOI: 10.4324/9781003137894
Typeset in Galliard
by Apex CoVantage, LLC
Contents
List of contributors viii
Introduction to the series xiii
1 Debates in Science Education 1
JUSTIN DILLON AND MIKE WATTS
SECTION 1
Debates about the nature and purpose of science
education in contemporary society 11
2 The STEM, STEAM, STEAME debate: what does each
term mean and what theoretical frameworks underpin their
development? 13
LAURA COLUCCI-GRAY
3 To be debated: teachers should mobilize science students to
help replace capitalism 27
LARRY BENCZE
4 Debates, intimacies, afects and agencies: science education
in the ‘hard’ climate change era 42
STEVE ALSOP
5 Climate change education 59
JUSTIN DILLON
vi Contents
6 Science education for citizenship: contributions from
knowledge of and about science in the context of the
COVID-19 pandemic 73
ROSÁRIA JUSTI, POLIANA MAIA AND MONIQUE SANTOS
7 Science and anti-science 85
MIKE WATTS
SECTION 2
Debates about the relationship between science and
science pedagogy 99
8 Challenges in teaching using inquiry-based science 101
ROBYN M. GILLIES
9 Science as practice? 115
JONATHAN OSBORNE
10 Learning and assessment 132
ERIN MARIE FURTAK
11 Science pedagogies from an international and comparative
perspective 147
ANN CHILDS
SECTION 3
Debates about whole-school issues which have a
science dimension 167
12 Inclusion and equity in science education 169
SAIMA SALEHJEE
13 Faith, science and classrooms 188
MICHAEL J. REISS
14 Sensitive issues in science: the case of relationships and
sex education 201
JENNY BYRNE
Contents vii
15 Transition from primary to secondary 214
SARAH EARLE
16 Creativity in school science 227
JUSTIN DILLON AND LINDSAY HETHERINGTON
17 Science and mathematics: the mathematical demands
of science 239
VICTORIA WONG
Index 253
Contributors
Steve Alsop is Professor of Education at York University, Toronto, Canada, where
he teaches courses and supervises graduate students in education, science and
technology studies and environmental studies. His research explores science
pedagogies in a variety of public educational contexts, including schools, uni-
versities, museums and environmental organisations. Steve’s recent work is
located in the Dadaab refugee camp in Kenya with the Borderless Higher
Education for Refugees programme. His teaching, writing and research envis-
age education as a collaborative process of building more wonderous, caring,
responsively-diverse, equitable worlds.
Larry Bencze is Associate Professor (Emeritus) in Science Education at the Uni-
versity of Toronto, Canada (1998–present). Prior to this role, he worked for
15 years as a science teacher and as a science education consultant in Ontario.
His research programme emphasizes critical analyses – drawing on history,
philosophy, sociology, etc. – of science and technology, explicit teaching about
problematic power relations and student-led, research-informed and negoti-
ated socio-political actions to address personal, social and environmental
harms associated with fields of science and technology. Recent publications
include two edited books about proactive citizenship. He also is co-editor of
an open-source activist journal (goo.gl/ir7YRj).
Jenny Byrne is Associate Professor in Education at Southampton Education
School, the University of Southampton, UK. Her expertise and research inter-
ests include health education and exploring the connections between science
and health education, including scientific and health literacy, science educa-
tion in formal and informal settings and socio-scientific issues. Jenny gradu-
ated from Birmingham University with a BSc in Bacteriology and completed
a PGCE at Durham University. She taught in secondary schools and became
Head of Science. Jenny has subsequently taught in all phases of education
including a pupil referral unit, and as a health education officer and adviser
for before moving to higher education. Since then, she has taught and led
undergraduate and PGCE primary and secondary science programmes, as well
as supervised Master’s and PhD students.
Contributors ix
Ann Childs is Associate Professor in Science Education at the University of
Oxford, UK. Her research focuses on the professional development of sci-
ence teachers and teacher educators. Ann completed her PhD in chemistry
at Birmingham University in 1982 and then trained to be a science teacher
at Oxford University. She taught for 11 years in Oxfordshire and in Sierra
Leone for Voluntary Services Overseas (VSO). During her work as a teacher in
Oxfordshire, Ann mentored beginning science teachers on the Oxford Intern-
ship Scheme. She took up her current post in 1997 where she now teaches
on the PGCE, is director of the Master’s in Teacher Education and supervises
Master’s and DPhil students.
Laura Colucci-Gray is Senior Lecturer in Science and Sustainability Education
and Head of the Institute of Education, Teaching and Leadership at Moray
House School of Education and Sport, University of Edinburgh, UK. Her
research focuses on science-society debates and the development of participa-
tory approaches engaging artistic and scientifc creativities for radical democ-
racy. After gaining her frst degree in Natural Sciences at the University of
Turin, Laura taught Biology in a secondary school in Italy. She then moved to
the UK, where she gained a PhD in Science Education from the Open Univer-
sity (UK) and worked as a lecturer and Director of Research at the University
of Aberdeen until 2017. Laura has been President of the Scottish Educational
Research Association and she is a Visiting Professor in STEAM Education at
the University of Turin.
Justin Dillon is Professor of Science and Environmental Education at Univer-
sity College London, UK. His research focuses on learning and engagement
in and out of schools. After studying for a degree in chemistry, Justin trained
as a teacher and taught in London schools before joining King’s College
London in 1989, where he worked as a researcher and teacher educator until
2014. Justin was President of the European Science Education Research
Association (ESERA) from 2007–11 and is President of the UK National
Association for Environmental Education. He edits the journal Studies in
Science Education and is an editor of the International Journal of Science
Education.
Sarah Earle is Reader in Education at Bath Spa University, UK. She was a pri-
mary school teacher for 13 years before moving into initial teacher education
in 2012. Sarah’s PhD considered formative and summative assessment in pri-
mary science. Since 2015, she has led the Teacher Assessment in Primary Sci-
ence (TAPS) project, co-researching with teachers in each of the four nations
of the UK to develop support for primary science practice. Sarah supports the
professional learning of class teachers and science subject leaders via online
and face-to-face courses and through her work with the Association for Sci-
ence Education and the Primary Science Quality Mark. She is also editor of
the open-access Journal of Emergent Science.
