Sociotechnical Imaginaries: A Possible Contribution to Science Education

Authors

  • Sarah El Halwany University of Toronto
  • Majd Zouda University of Toronto
  • Minja Milanovic University of Toronto
  • Nurul Hassan University of Toronto
  • Sadia Rahman University of Toronto
  • Larry Bencze University of Toronto

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.25071/1916-4467.40536

Keywords:

sociotechnical imaginaries, science education, future studies

Abstract

This is a conceptual paper that highlights notions of sociotechnical imaginaries (STIs; Jasanoff, 2015) from fields of Science and Technology Studies (STS) that seem relevant to science education aimed at preparing critical and active citizens (Bencze, 2017). We extend our discussion to fields of future studies in science education to argue that a needed direction is not merely to get students to imagine desired (often personalized) futures (especially given social and environmental harms), but to interrogate how products of science and technology seem to delimit kinds of futures we ought to desire. That is, technoscientific futures are not just out there, but are already present, actively fashioning current practices and values. Drawing from STS literature, we demonstrate how STIs are enacted through two current technoscientific products: self-tracking devices and algorithms. We argue that such technoscience products have an active role in constructing certain kinds of individuals/publics (e.g., quantified citizens, calculated publics). Roles of material technologies in normalizing moral and political visions and future orientations need to be explicitly addressed in re-centering nature of technology as inseparable from nature of science (Roth, 2001). Notions of STIs further offer more nuanced approaches to discuss power at the interface of the public/private within STS Education (Pedretti & Nazir, 2011). Finally, notions of STIs may present us with new ways for (re-)encountering affect in science education (Alsop, 2016), as feelings of hope and anxieties contour (how we come to re-envision) imaginaries grounded in technoscientific worlds.

Author Biographies

Sarah El Halwany, University of Toronto

Sarah El Halwany is a PhD candidate at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE), University of Toronto. Her research looks at how science education is affectively enacted and embodied. She is also interested in pedagogical approaches that connect Science, Technology, Societies and Environments (STSE).

Majd Zouda, University of Toronto

Majd Zouda is a Ph.D. candidate in Science Education at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto. Her doctoral dissertation focuses on STEM programs in elite schools in Canada, and she has received the SSHRC doctoral fellowship for her doctoral research. Majd has been involved in publications regarding socioscientific issues, STEM education and student activism.

Minja Milanovic, University of Toronto

Minja Milanovic is currently a Science Lab Technician, Teaching Assistant & Research Internship Co-ordinator at The Bishop Strachan School. As a member of the STEPWISE team she has participated in creating teaching and learning resources, organizing teacher PD workshops, action research projects and publications in science education.

Nurul Hassan, University of Toronto

Nurul Hassan is a PhD student in the Department of Curriculum and Pedagogy at OISE, University of Toronto. His doctoral dissertation focuses on identity construction through STEM education in the postsecondary context. Nurul is also a sessional professor at a college in Toronto and is involved in Action Research Projects to implements various pedagogical approaches.

Sadia Rahman, University of Toronto

Sadia Rahman is an M.Ed Student in the Department of Leadership, Higher and Adult Education at OISE, University of Toronto. She is currently involved in an Action Research Project with a community group in Toronto on the problem of food wastage. She is doing her collaborative specialization in Environmental Studies and Environment and Health from the School of Environment, University of Toronto.

Larry Bencze, University of Toronto

Dr. Larry Bencze is an Emeritus Associate Professor in Science Education at the University of Toronto. His research emphasizes critical analyses of science and technology, explicit teaching about problematic power relations and student-led, research-informed, sociopolitical actions to overcome social and environmental harms associated with fields of science and technology.

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Published

27-06-2020

How to Cite

El Halwany, S., Zouda, M., Milanovic, M., Hassan, N., Rahman, S., & Bencze, L. (2020). Sociotechnical Imaginaries: A Possible Contribution to Science Education. Journal of the Canadian Association for Curriculum Studies, 18(1), 156–158. https://doi.org/10.25071/1916-4467.40536

Issue

Section

Science Education