To what extent should science education in primary and secondary schools promote learning about science, technology, and ethics? At the primary and secondary school levels, ethical theory and issues of professional ethics would be inappropriate. At these levels one of the most common ethical issues has to do with the environment, which may thus serve as a case study here. But it must be recognized that environmental pollution and global climate change are controversial in ways not always easy to examine with primary and secondary school learners. Indeed many environmental education teachers also sometimes fail to critically assess their own beliefs.

Arguments for Activist Education

There are two basic arguments for activist science education to address environmental issues. One is a scientific and public consensus about its importance, another is the importance of democracy.

During the last half of the twentieth century, many environmental...