CITIZENSHIP LITERACIES: THE KEY TO APPLYING SCIENCE UNDERSTANDING TO SOCIETAL ISSUES

The effect of human activity on the environment, population growth amid diminishing resources, and conflicting interests among nations, societies, and cultures pose enormous challenges to democratic societies that science can help mitigate. Yet, scientific literacy alone is not enough. Scientifically literate individuals must also have a set of skills and practices that empowers them to temper their civic engagement with scientific understanding. Citizenship literacies are the skills necessary to apply scientific understanding to a variety of complex societal problems in an effective and systematic manner. We recognize three classes of citizenship literacies: 1) critical thinking, 2) social context and 3) informed engagement. Critical thinking includes the practices necessary to analyze the impacts of events/actions from economic, social and political perspectives. In particular, they provide one with the ability to identify short- and long-term social, cultural and political consequences, recognize impacts on the physical environment and ascertain economic externalities (costs). Whereas critical thinking allows one to identify the impacts of diamond mining, understanding the nature of the society influenced by the mining provides clues to the society's ability to deal with those impacts, e.g. Canada vs. Sierra Leone. Social context helps one understand how culture and social structure are constructed and maintained by examining the historical record, population demographics, economic context, and unique social and cultural features. Acquiring the skills necessary to analysis systematically the affect of physical activity by humans and to place these effects in social context is important. However, it is not sufficient to insure meaningful citizen engagement in decisions that affect their lives. Also necessary are literacies of informed engagement. In particular, a citizen must be able to envision alternative solutions and work toward common ground with groups who may have very different viewpoints and interests. Only by mastering the citizenship literacies can an individual effectively use scientific understanding to address the many issues facing today's societies. Consequently, citizenship literacies should be incorporated into socially relevant introductory science courses.