Guerrero, Gonzalo;
(2024)
Critical scientific and environmental literacies: Exploring opportunities from outdoor education.
Doctoral thesis (Ph.D), UCL (University College London).
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Abstract
In the global climate crisis, scientific and environmental literacies are crucial for sustainable transformations and climate actions. Research shows that conventional definitions of literacies are often disconnected from global challenges and are controversially supported by neoliberal-capitalist agendas. In Latin America, especially Chile, hegemonic approaches in the curriculum and teacher training shape science educators’ perspectives and practices. This thesis explores opportunities through outdoor education and collaborative research to promote critical approaches for scientific and environmental literacies, based on critical theories and Freirean pedagogies. In doing so, a field trip to El Morado National Park, a glacial cirque impacted by the Alto Maipo environmental conflict, was planned and executed in Chile with 11 participants, including pre-service and in-service teachers, science educators, park rangers, and the author. The thesis aimed to answer three research questions: (1) How have critical scientific and environmental literacies been understood in the last three decades, and what opportunities exist for their convergence? (2) How does collaboration enhance the expertise of pre-service teachers in outdoor education? (3) To what extent can outdoor education promote a critical approach to scientific and environmental literacies? A systematic review within this thesis reveals tensions among paradigms of scientific and environmental literacies, noting emerging decolonial approaches and potential convergences of these concepts. The lack of outdoor education opportunities in teacher education presents challenges, with pre-service teachers often relying on self-taught methods. However, after collaborative research, the pre-service teachers in this research demonstrated increased expertise, recognising educational opportunities from visiting El Morado and planning interdisciplinary activities. Ultimately, the thesis confirms that outdoor education fosters scientific and environmental literacies through conscientisation processes where individuals become critically aware of their relationship with nature and advocate for socio-ecological justice. Thus, outdoor education and collaborative research promote ecological and social justice through informed, action-oriented teaching practices, benefiting students and broader communities.
| Type: | Thesis (Doctoral) |
|---|---|
| Qualification: | Ph.D |
| Title: | Critical scientific and environmental literacies: Exploring opportunities from outdoor education |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | Copyright © The Author 2024. Original content in this thesis is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) Licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/). Any third-party copyright material present remains the property of its respective owner(s) and is licensed under its existing terms. Access may initially be restricted at the author’s request. |
| Keywords: | scientific literacy, environmental literacy, sustainability, outdoor education, critical pedagogy, conscientisation |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education > UCL Institute of Education UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education > UCL Institute of Education > IOE - Education, Practice and Society |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10200507 |
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