Does the rise of STEM education mean the demise of sustainability education?

In this article, we outline the key principles of education for sustainability (EfS) that enable us to question the enthusiastic and uncritical promotion of STEM (science, mathematics, engineering and technology) and its offshoot, STEM education, as key contributors to an environmentally sustainable...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Australian journal of environmental education 2019-03, Vol.35 (1), p.1-11
Main Authors: Smith, Caroline, Watson, Jane
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Critical Thinking
Curricula
Curriculum development
Economic Progress
Education
Education for Sustainability (EfS)
Educational Resources
Engineering Education
Environment
Environmental Education
Evaluative Thinking
Feature Articles
Learning
Lifelong Learning
Mathematics Education
Neoliberalism
Primary secondary education
Science Education
STEM Education
Sustainability
Sustainable Development
Technical education
Technology Education
Thinking Skills
Values
World Views
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Summary:In this article, we outline the key principles of education for sustainability (EfS) that enable us to question the enthusiastic and uncritical promotion of STEM (science, mathematics, engineering and technology) and its offshoot, STEM education, as key contributors to an environmentally sustainable future. We examine the framing of STEM and STEM education as situated in an unproblematised, neoliberal growthist paradigm, in contrast to the more critical ecological paradigm of EfS. We conclude that STEM, and hence STEM education, need to include critical reflection and futures perspectives if they are to align themselves with a flourishing economic, social and environmental future. We provide examples for the classroom that illustrate our contention.
ISSN:0814-0626
2049-775X
DOI:10.1017/aee.2018.51