Critical scientific and environmental literacies: Exploring opportunities from outdoor education
Year: 2024
Type: dissertation
Abstract: In the global climate crisis, scientific and environmental literacies are crucial for sustainable transformations and climate actions. Research shows that conventional definitions of literacies are often disconnected from global challenges and are controversially supported by neoliberal-capitalist agendas. In Latin America, especially Chile, hegemonic approaches in the curriculum and teacher training shape science educators’ perspectives and practices. This thesis explores opportunities through outdoor education and collaborative research to promote critical approaches for scientific and environmental literacies, based on critical theories and Freirean pedagogies. In doing so, a field trip to El Morado National Park, a glacial cirque impacted by the Alto Maipo environmental conflict, was planned and executed in Chile with 11 participants, including pre-service and in-service teachers, science educators, park rangers, and the author. The thesis aimed to answer three research questions: (1) How have critical scientific and environmental literacies been understood in the last three decades, and what opportunities exist for their convergence? (2) How does collaboration enhance the expertise of pre-service teachers in outdoor education? (3) To what extent can outdoor education promote a critical approach to scientific and environmental literacies? A systematic review within this thesis reveals tensions among paradigms of scientific and environmental literacies, noting emerging decolonial approaches and potential convergences of these concepts. The lack of outdoor education opportunities in teacher education presents challenges, with pre-service teachers often relying on self-taught methods. However, after collaborative research, the pre-service teachers in this research demonstrated increased expertise, recognising educational opportunities from visiting El Morado and planning interdisciplinary activities. Ultimately, the thesis confirms that outdoor education fosters scientific and environmental literacies through conscientisation processes where individuals become critically aware of their relationship with nature and advocate for socio-ecological justice. Thus, outdoor education and collaborative research promote ecological and social justice through informed, action-oriented teaching practices, benefiting students and broader communities.
Author: Guerrero, Gonzalo
Language: English
Subfield: Education
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
SDG: Quality education
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7055471675