Pushing the Political, Social and Disciplinary Boundaries of Science Education : Science Education as a Site for Resistance and Transformation

In this chapter I critically analyse the social and institutional boundaries that I have to navigate seeking validation of my vision of science education as a space for transformation and emancipation. I argue that educators committed to social justice need to move beyond educating critical citizens towards generating critical, caring activist citizens. For this, science educators need to radically change their discourses, practices, measures of success and push towards more radical aims of science education. This requires resistance to the dominant academic environment guided by modernistic, industrial, positivistic and hegemonic forces. Following autoethnography, I critically reflect on some of my experiences of working towards social justice in South America and Australia. I focus on how my experiences have shaped the construction of my identity as an academic and how this informs my practice.

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