Radical care as a science and engineering education response to climate change

Abstract

Science education and science education research have long taken a lead in educating the public about climate change by arguing that the public needs to understand the scientific models that explain the mechanisms of global warming and predict future impacts. However, as of yet, this focus on understanding climate models has failed to have an impact on motivating a coherent societal response to climate change or the preparation for its consequences. One issue is the prevalence of technocratic, neoliberal, and settler colonial discourses in science and engineering education standards documents that perpetuate colonialism and racism and undermine the potential impact of science literacy as a response to climate change. In her article “Just worlding design principles: Childrens’ multispecies and radical care priorities in science and engineeringeducation,” Anastasia Sanchez provided a clear vision for how radical care could offer a principal ethic by which to create a more just and caring response to climate change, a defining issue of our time. At its core, radical care is about building relationality. One strategy for fostering relationality is perspective-taking. Nurturing perspective-taking in science and engineering education could build the sense of co-responsibility for each other that is essential for community-based strength and resistance in the face of cultural and ecological disruption and destruction. We indeed live in precarious times, and radical care will be necessary for us to survive.