Potential of science education in the development of active citizenship: an axiological dimention

Shishi Xu

Urgency of the research. In recent years, the concept of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, which marks the quantitative and qualitative transition of humanity in the era of high technology, has become increasingly used. Educational systems of the world's leading countries are paying increasing attention to scientific education, which should provide training for generations of citizens, acting as a driving force for social and scientific innovation. There is a question of the possibility of science education to serve as a tool for developing civic competencies, which would allow students to be active participants in social architecture in close connection with the ideas of democracy.

Target setting. The issue of conceptualizing the possibilities of science education is a debatable factor in developing civic worldviews and forming active, responsible, active civic positions. Complications of the above search are provided by scientific discussions of representatives of philosophical schools and areas that argue about the need to interpret citizenship in traditional, national coordinates, or global coordinates, appealing to the concept of global citizenship.

Actual scientific researches and issues analysis. The works of S. Babushko and B. Hoskins are devoted to theoretical issues of developing active citizenship through education. The research of R. Leduc, K. Nicoll et al., A. Nosko et al., W. Roth et al. is devoted to global citizenship development through teaching. E. Jenkins, M. Evagrow et al., S. Kolsto, R. Justi directly attempt to substantiate the axiological content of science education in the formation of the values of active citizenship.

The research objective. This study aims to analyze the potential of science education in shaping the value base of active citizenship, taking national and global socio-cultural contexts into account.

The statement of basic material. The study of science allows individuals to penetrate deeper into modern aspects of the interpretation of the scientific picture of the world, including deepening the understanding of contemporary social architecture. The developed scientific picture of the world allows realizing one’s own, at the level of an individual citizen, involvement in solving global problems of modern civilization (climate change, contradictions of intercultural communication, bioethics, genetically modified organisms, etc.), to form an active position on one’s contribution to large social movements to overcome them. Socioscientific issues are a kind of bridge between active citizenship and science education. The desire to find the truth through long (but not consistently successful) scientific experiments, familiarity with the principles of argumentation, critical analysis of alternative theories, etc. indirectly forms in the individual worldviews, where a plurality of thought, evidence, and propensity to critical (objective) analysis of facts, etc. are essential attributes of active citizenship in our time.

Conclusions. We’ve demonstrated a number of methodological complications for the analysis of the studied problem: transit from the national concept of citizenship to global citizenship with corresponding changes in the axiological dimension, revision of science status and communicative paradigm “science - society” and so on. It has been demonstrated that science education can be an effective educational tool for developing the value base of active citizenship through the involvement of pupils (students) in solving socioscientific issues. It was shown that active citizenship through science education is established by forming a value base centered on critical and rational thinking, democracy as a practice of the scientific environment, developed skills of argumentation, ethical and moral reflection on global civilization, etc.

Keywords: active citizenship, science education, axiology, global citizenship, socioscientific issues.

References:

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