In the Anthropocene, there is a significant need for new ways to educate about science and environmental problems, including climate issues. This article explores Swedish teacher students' discussions as they envision their future roles as science teachers in the light of the Anthropocene. At the beginning of their science teacher education, the teacher students are not fully immersed in the established discourses of the educational system as in-service teachers. In this study, we consider how these teacher students' 'fresh eyes' bring views of how knowledge (especially chemistry-related knowledge) matters in education and teaching. Through a lecture that centred planetary boundaries and the Great Acceleration as representations of some main scientific models in the field, the teacher students were introduced to the concept of Anthropocene. Five focus group discussions followed this introduction. Thematic analysis reveals how the acquired knowledge of the introductory lesson challenges the students to express 'matters of concern' differently: partly considering a personal, everyday level and partly reformulating their role as future science teachers. The interrelation of these positions is also a concern for the concluding discussion. Furthermore, the article discusses these results as both concerns and possibilities for science education, including science teacher education.

In this article, we regard what we call critical chemical literacy as a basis for climate empowerment and agency from a chemistry education point of view. We explain what we mean by critical chemical literacy by presenting four frameworks/models, all based on previous research but here developed with critical chemical literacy as a guiding principle. One of these frameworks/models consists of the following four main aspects: powerful chemical conceptual knowledge, powerful knowledge about chemical practices, powerful knowledge about chemistry in society, and eco-reflexive chemical agency. Another framework/model highlights three visions of chemistry education, from focusing only on concepts, via also focusing on context, to an inclusive, critical, and eco-reflexive vision focusing on complexity and responsibility. All four frameworks/models can support chemistry educators' considerations concerning content, teaching, and learning in and about chemistry in relation to, for instance, climate issues.

In a global context of climate crisis and extension of other planetary boundaries, science education and particularly scientific and environmental literacies have a key role towards a sustainable transformation and climate and environmental action. However, scientific, or ecological literacies are highly complex, defined and interpreted in different ways, and depend upon its social, cultural, and political contexts. Previous research has reported that some definitions or conventional visions of scientific literacies are typically disconnected from this global catastrophe and controversially have been supported by neoliberal capitalism agendas that underpin 21st-century global economies. To tackle this scenario, new and critical approaches in science education articulated with environmental literacies are imperative. This paper provides a systematic review of critical scientific and environmental literacies, seeking opportunities to materialise and promote awareness towards a process of ‘conscientisation’ in science education. Findings report and examine the range and spectrum of definitions about how critical scientific literacies have been defined, conceptualised and studied from the 1990s.

In the context of humanistic Bildung-centred Didaktik, the educational potential of different school subjects is emphasized. But how can different school subjects collectively contribute to the ‘cultivation-of-human-powers’ and Bildung with a focus on sustainability? In this article, seven different school subjects are compared. Eleven teacher educators from Malmö University, Sweden, have written scholarly about the roles of their respective school subjects for Bildung and sustainability. Drawing from the texts related to the seven school subjects – geography, mathematics, physical education and health, religious education, science for citizenship, Swedish as a second language, and visual arts – a comparative analysis was conducted. The primary focus was to understand the unique characteristics of each school subject, explore their epistemic differences, and discern their potential roles in fostering cross-curricular didactics for Bildung and sustainability. It is shown that the different school subjects collectively provide complementary contributions to contemporary Bildung and climate change literacy.

There is a need of a component in science education that can orient students to the complexity characterising the natural sciences position in relation to a globalised risk society and the Anthropocene. Recently, the implications of the German philosophical and educational construct Bildung have been discussed in this regard. In this paper, we investigate in what aspect an orientation towards promoting Bildung manifests in Swedish upper secondary school chemistry teachers' visions and views for their teaching. In view of the reported impact of neoliberal policy in narrowing the scope of education, with such narrowing possibly excluding dimensions of philosophical-ethical reflection in science teaching, we also investigate in what aspect economic goals associated with neoliberalism might hinder a Bildung orientation in the vision and views of the five chemistry teachers that were interviewed. Results revealed "Bildung-related elements" to be present in the chemistry teaching visions of all the teachers, however without strong Bildung orientation. Significantly, four of the five teachers reported contextual factors consistent with the impact of neoliberal policy in education as marginalising their work to realise Bildung-related elements. In addition, factors outside of teachers' awareness were also found to marginalise Bildung. Common for all five teachers were neoliberal values at the level of teachers' implicit beliefs, with our analysis pointing to the possibility that teachers view Bildung-related elements in their chemistry teaching as commodifiable entities. We argue that these implicit beliefs disempower the teachers in relation to a teaching praxis that seeks to guide students towards their own Bildung.

Publications with Vision III-ideas of scientific literacy and science education are reviewed. Since its inception in 2007, the same yearas Vision I and II were first formulated by Roberts, there have been at least eight mainly independent proposals for Vision III. The ideas encapsulated in Vision III – understood as alternative views to Western mainstream understandings – have been in existence for an even longer period. Different interpretations of Vision III are reviewed. Common interpretations and emphases are (environmental) engagement, pluralism, realising complexity, the political, and responsible knowing-in-action. The article explores how the three visions relate to each other and their different curriculum emphases. Six new curriculum emphases are suggested for Vision III: STS-perspectives (science and technology studies), ethico-sociopolitical perspectives, agency, philosophical values, cultural-existential perspectives, and embodied knowledge. The article culminates with a suggestion of an integrated conceptualisation of Vision III. Scientific literacy from Vision III-perspectives can be characterised as: based on broad scientific knowings, fundamental anddigital literacy, and an understanding of our complex world from pluralistic perspectives (cross-disciplinary, critical, historyphilosophy-sociology, intersectionality, indigenous worldviews, relationalism), being engaged and prepared for ‘glocal’ action. In essence, Vision III can be seen as synonymous with critical-eco-reflexive Bildung-oriented scientific literacy and science education.

Kapitlet fokuserar på lärares komplexa kunskapsuppdrag och föreslår bildning som ledstjärna. Didaktiken blir då bildningsorienterad. Kapitlet lyfter fram några perspektiv och frågor, som man som lärare kan använda sig av vid planering av och reflektion över bildningsorienterad undervisning.

Bildung is an old and complex concept with several elements and dimensions. A socio-political dimension is the most recent. This paper will highlight important elements in contemporary conceptualizations of Bildung (e.g. Sjöström & Tyson, 2022). One such conceptualization is called eco-reflexive Bildung (e.g. Sjöström, 2018) and can be understood as a renewed understanding of Bildung in the Anthropocene epoch. Bildung-views are always connected to values, visions and worldviews as well as identity (e.g. Sjöström, 2018). Contemporary Bildung-interpretations emphasize moral-philosophical-existential-political dimensions of Bildung and can be seen as an educational meta-theory for (subject) didactics in the Anthropocence. Based on such a meta-theory it is interesting to discuss which consequences it has for subject didactics, didactic models and educational practice more generally. How may an eco-reflexive Bildung-oriented subject didactics look like and which theory- and practice-based didactic models (in a broad sense) need to be developed? (a follow up question is how to define the term “didactic model”?) One suggestion for such an eco-reflexive Bildung-oriented didactic model (Yavuzkaya, Clucas & Sjöström, 2022) will be presented. It takes chemistry as an example and relates to ideas of powerful knowledge and knowings as well as transdisciplinary approaches. Carlgren (2020) has problematized powerful knowledge and instead suggested powerful knowings. This concept emphasizes that disciplinary knowledge is embedded in persons and actions. It is about “knowledge-as-a-means-for-cultivation-of-human-powers” (p. 324). In “transdisciplinary (subject) didaktik”, content (in a broad sense) is central, but the context is beyond the individual school subjects (e.g. Sjöström & Rydberg, 2018). It can for instance be about didaktik models concerning complex controversial societal issues involving several different school subjects in support of eco-reflexive Bildung.

Confucianism provides a specific view on the world held by many people living in several Asian societies. It offers views on humans and nature that generally differ from other traditional or Western modern views. The paper presents a systematic analysis of the literature in education with a focus on science education about the connection of Confucianism with education for sustainability. It suggests a framework for how education for sustainability can be operated in the foreground of Confucian societies taking concepts from the international literature into consideration. This critical review provides justification for a stronger reflection about how to include ideas from Confucianism into education for sustainability in the teaching and learning of science. It suggests that Confucian thinking offers a rich and authentic context for science learning in Confucian societies and and also provides a chance to reflect on views of humans, nature, and science in science education in other societies, potentially contributing to the development of more balanced and holistic worldviews.

Reflekterande kommentar till temanumret ”Kraftfull professionskunskap i ämnesundervisning”.

”Lärarnas vetenskap” har getts olika namn såsom pedagogik, utbildningsvetenskap, didaktik och pedagogiskt arbete. Artikelförfattaren föredrar didaktik som namn.

Didaktik, inkluderande ämnesdidaktik, kan ses som lärarnas centrala kunskapsområde (bl.a. Sjöström & Tyson, 2022). Kärnan i didaktik är didaktiska teorier och modeller. Didaktiska teorier för lärarprofessionen liksom didaktiska modeller kan ses som en brygga mellan teoretiska perspektiv å ena sidan och undervisningspraktik å andra sidan. Didaktiska modeller bidrar med teorigrundade lärarprofessionsstöd för informerade och reflekterade (ämnes)didaktiska val. De kan även ses som ”organisatör” och förmedlare av ”kraftfull professionskunskap”. Det är dock först vid användningen och i mötet med erfarenheter och praktik som professionskunskapen blir del av ett kraftfullt professionskunnande.

Artikeln innehåller en niofältstabell/karta över ”lärarnas vetenskap”. Ämnesdidaktik, som finns i centrum av tabellen och som fokuserar på innehåll i relation till undervisning, får näring av andra områden av ”lärarnas vetenskap” såsom läroplansteori, lärandeteori, pedagogisk filosofi, utbildningssociologi och metodik.

In recent decades, research on the knowledge of indigenous cultures has gained more and more recognition in the field of science and technology education. Indigenous knowledge was promoted in terms of justice for indigenous peoples, respect for values and indigenous knowledge, the potential for intercultural learning, and chances for supporting education for sustainability. Various efforts have been made by both indigenous and non-indigenous scholars to introduce indigenous knowledge into science and technology curricula. In this chapter, we explore concepts and recent studies on indigenous knowledge in science and technology education, with important questions related to the topic.

A point of departure in this paper is an awareness that we are living in the Anthropocene era. Based on this, education, including science education, needs to be re-visioned. Several scholars have suggested a Vision III of scientific literacy and science education as a complement to the well-spread two visions first suggested by Roberts in 2007. As suggested in this paper, the three different visions can be related to different educational-philosophical frameworks, worldview perspectives, and curriculum emphases. Vision I has a structure of science- and/or a scientific skills-emphasis and Vision II an everyday life- and/or a decision making-emphasis. Finally, a reconsidered Vision III can be seen as having an ethico-socio-political- and a relational-existential-emphasis. Different views of the relationship between the three different visions will be elaborated on in the paper. One way of seeing it is as Vision III being based on Vision II, which in turn builds on Vision I (e.g. Guerrero & Torres‐Olave, 2022). The Vision III-version suggested by Sjöström and Eilks (2018) can be seen as synonymous to eco-reflexive Bildung-oriented and critical science education. It integrates cognitive and affective domains and includes philosophical-moral-existential alternatives (see also: Sjöström, 2018) as well as politicization to address complex socio-scientific issues. “Bildung” is a central concept in central European/Scandinavian educational theory. It has a long and multifaceted history of ideas including for instance humanistic values and the ideas of critical-democratic citizenship. Vision III-driven science education can also be connected to other contemporary conceptualizations such as futures literacy, socio-ecojustice, agency, environmental humanities, and planetary health. It is with other words about a critical science education for sustainability. The paper will be finished with a suggestion of a novel and multifaceted way of viewing Vision III, that is, main elements of a reconsidered Vision III.

Subject didaktik as a field has contact points to (1) other educational sciences such as general didactics, pedagogy, pedagogical work and educational studies, (2) the school subject / subject area, and (3) teaching practice (e.g. Sjöström, 2018; Cramer & Schreiber, 2018). Many subfields of subject didaktik have in recent decades evolved from experience-based methodology to quite independent research fields. This applies, for instance, to “science didaktik” (“naturvetenskapernas didaktik” in Swedish and “Science Education” in English), which in Sweden has developed since the mid-1980s. Over the past twenty years, the country has got many new doctors and professors within this (sub)field. I am especially at home in Science Education, but am also very interested in general aspects of subject didaktik (e.g. Sjöström, 2017; Vollmer, 2021). Six years ago, at NoFA6 in Odense, I first presented a framework with ten analysis areas to be used to analyze and develop subject didaktik in whatever subject area (Sjöström, 2017, 2018). These ten areas are about: 1) subject didaktik research especially in the specific school subject area; 2) meta-perspectives on the subject area; 3) meta-perspectives on the school subject; 4) culture and traditions of the school subject; 5) students’ relationship to the subject (area); 6) teachers’ (and student teachers’) relationship to the subject (area); 7) common praxis in the school subject: teaching, learning and assessment (concepts, values, aestetics, curriculum emphases, proven experience, textbooks, classroom communication, assessment practice, etc.); 8) alternative didacitical choices; 9) ”cross-curricular goals” (e.g. eco-reflexive Bildung, sustainability etc.); and 10) didaktik modelling (for the latter, see for instance Sjöström, 2022). In this paper I will present an updated version of the framework, developed based on recent literature in the area.

References:

Cramer, C. & Schreiber, F. (2018). Subject didactics and educational sciences: Relationships and their implications for teacher education from the viewpoint of educational sciences. RISTAL: Research in Subject-matter Teaching and Learning, 1, 150-164.

Sjöström, J. (2017). General subject didactics – core knowledge and perspectives. Oral presentation at Nordisk ämnesdidaktisk konferens (NoFA), May 29-31, Odense, Denmark. (page 136-138 in the abstract book)

Sjöström, J. (2018). Didaktik i integrativa lärarprofessionsämnen, Studier i læreruddannelse og –profession, 3(1), 94-119. (doi: 10.7146/lup.v3i1.97571)

Sjöström, J. (2022). Didaktik modelling illustrated by sustainability teaching arrangements in preschool. Educare, (2), 249–280. (doi: 10.24834/educare.2022.5.8)

Vollmer, H. J. (2021). Powerful educational knowledge through subject didactics and general subject didactics. Recent developments in German-speaking countries. Journal of Curriculum Studies, 53(2), 229-246.

One point of departure in this paper is an awareness that we are living in the Anthropocene era. Based on this, education, including science education, needs to be re-visioned. Since the first use of the term by Hurd in 1958, many different definitions of scientific literacy have been put forward. One and a half decade ago Roberts (2007) suggested two visions of scientific literacy and science education. To simplify, Vision I can be described as science without society (internal view), whereas Vision II is about contextual application of scientific knowledge in life and society (external view). As a complement to the two well-spread visions by Roberts, a Vision III has been suggested (e.g. Aikenhead, 2007; Yore, 2012; Liu, 2013; Sjöström & Eilks, 2018). This paper tries to systemize what different scholars have meant with the three different visions, especially focusing on Vision III. Furthermore, the paper elaborates on different ways in how the three visions relate to each other. The three visions are also discussed in relation to curriculum theory (e.g. Deng, 2020) and different curriculum emphases, educational-philosophical frameworks, and worldview perspectives.

“Bildung” is a central concept in central European/Scandinavian educational theory. It has a long and multifaceted history of ideas including for instance humanistic values and the ideas of critical-democratic citizenship. In this paper Vision III of scientific literacy and science education, as it is presented in the international literature, is examined. Furthermore, implications of a Vision III-view on Bildung and teachers’ didactical choices are discussed.

In this article, we elaborate on the construct ChemoKnowings as subject-specific powerful knowings for chemical agency in the Anthropocene era. Related to constructs such as critical chemical literacy, ChemoCapabilities, and eco-reflexive chemical thinking, we unpack the construct as an example of Carlgren’s powerful knowings, which relates Young’s powerful knowledge to the idea and tradition of Bildung. It means powerful knowledge containing embodied and relational (or tacit) dimensions. ChemoKnowings can therefore be described as embodied and relational knowledge in and about chemistry – (critical) chemical knowledge that matters meaningfully to the student, connecting them to themselves and the world, and conferring an ethical compass. By situating the teaching of ChemoKnowings within a vision for chemistry teaching as a part of a world-centered vision for schooling in the Anthropocene, ChemoKnowings are viewed as having the capacity to mobilise an ethico-socio-political action, that is, chemical agency. By focusing on student transformation of content for ChemoKnowings and integrating elements of a theoretical didaktik model for eco-reflexive chemistry education, we develop a vision-oriented didaktik model for ChemoKnowings. More generally, we argue that didaktik models for supporting teachers’ consideration of student transformation of content for powerful subject-knowings are an important part of general subject didaktik. We present in the article vignettes that detail personal accounts for each of the three authors describing examples of chemistry-specific knowings that matter meaningfully to each of us, and which articulate our own embodied ethico-socio-political actions as students, teachers, researchers, and consumers. Inspired by Klafki’s didaktik analysis, we end the article by proposing four areas of questions that the teacher can use in guiding their preparation and transformation of the content they bring into the classroom for promoting students’ ChemoKnowings, and thus Bildung in the 21st century.

Didaktik för bildning kräver didaktisk forskning och etisk klokhet, kreativitet och praktisk skicklighet. Fokus för bildningsdidaktik är ett ständigt sökande efter kunskapens och livets meningsfullhet samt en vilja till individuellt och kollektivt ansvarstagande. En sådan värdegrundsförankrad didaktik behöver genomsyra hela lärarutbildningen och skolan om vi ska möta de utmaningar som antropocen, människans tidsålder, ställer oss inför.

Hur kan lärarutbildningen dra nytta av didaktiska teorier och analyser? Jesper Sjöstrom och Ruhi Tyson menar att lärarutbildningens alla delar bör förhålla sig till didaktiska teorier och modeller med målet att stödja professionella lärare i att skapa meningsfull och forskningsförankrad undervisning, inte minst för bildningens skull.

Bildung is an old and complex concept with at least five historical elements (e.g. Sjöström & Talanquer, 2018; Sjöström & Tyson, 2022). A socio-political dimension is the most recent. As an educational concept it emerged in Germany in the mid eighteenth century (Horlacher, 2016). Especially in Germany and Scandinavia conceptions of Bildung became the general philosophical framework to guide both formal and informal education. At least five versions/traditions of Bildung can be identified (Sjöström et al., 2017) and will be described in the presentation. Based on such previous conceptualizations of Bildung, I will elaborate on a contemporary understanding of Bildung for our Anthropocence epoch. A Bildung view is always connected to values, visions and worldviews as well as identity (e.g. Sjöström, 2018). In focus in the presentation will be what I and co-authors have called eco-critical-reflexive Bildung (e.g., Sjöström, Eilks & Zuin, 2016; Sjöström, 2018). It emphasizes especially the socio-political dimension of Bildung and can be seen as an educational meta-theory for (subject) education in our Anthropocence epoch (see also e.g. Kvamme, 2021; Taylor, 2017). Based on such a meta-theory it is interesting to discuss which consequences it has for (subject) Didaktik, didaktik models and educational practice more generally (see e.g. Sjöström & Tyson, in press; for chemistry Didaktik, as an example, see: Herranen, Yavuzkaya & Sjöström, 2021 and Yavuzkaya, Clucas & Sjöström, manuscript). Or formulated in other words: How does a Bildung-oriented Didaktik for our Anthropocene Epoch look like and which theory- and practice-based didaktik models (in a broad sense) need to be developed via Bildung-didactic modelling?

Boken ger en bred introduktion till lärares centrala kunskapsområde – didaktiken.

För detta är bildningsperspektiv avgörande, samt perspektiv som fokuserar på elevers upplevelser av undervisningens meningsfullhet, dess bidrag till djupare insikter och omvärldsförståelse samt dess förankring i skolans värdegrund och kunnande i antropocen – människans tidsålder.

Boken behandlar frågor om exempelvis hur man kan överbrygga klyftan mellan allmän- och ämnesdidaktik, hur man kan utveckla pedagogisk och moralisk fantasi samt kommunikationens roll. Det handlar om lärares förmåga att göra insiktsfulla och kloka didaktiska val.

DIDAKTIK FÖR LÄRANDE OCH BILDNING fokuserar på att förbinda didaktisk teoribildning (inklusive läroplansteori) med didaktisk praktik för att verkligen se till bildande lärande: hur didaktisk analys, didaktiska modeller och didaktiska fallstudier kan berika lärares planering, genomförande av undervisning samt bedömningsarbete till stöd för bildning.

This paper presents the research behind the formulation of a new didaktik model on waste and material resources in preschool. The research was part of an extensive collaborative R&D programme, involving close to 300 preschool teachers/managers and researchers, to build systematic knowledge on what may characterize teaching in preschool based on scientific grounds and proven experience. The guiding question in this specific study was what it can look like to teach sustainability issues in preschool. The teaching examined in the study was informed by the concept of didaktik as well as by pragmatic theory. Using the methodological approach of abductive analysis, a new didaktik model was designed. This process of generating a new didaktik model is part of didaktik modelling, a focus of the paper.

Compared to Anglo-American instructional design, European Didaktik has focused much more on content and relevance. This presentation is based on concepts such as disciplinary literacy, powerful knowledge, Bildung, sustainability education and didaktik models (Sjöström, 2019; Sjöström, Eilks & Talanquer, 2020), as well as on their interrelationships. Recent ideas of didaktik models supporting eco-reflexive Bildung (Herranen et al., 2021), ChemoKnowings (Herranen et al., 2021; Yavuzkaya et al., 2022) and chemical agency (Yavuzkaya et al., 2022) will be presented and discussed. Eco-reflexive Bildung-oriented chemistry/science education should, in addition to (a) transformative subject knowledge, emphasize both (b) scientific processes – NOS (Nature of Science) – and (c) societal contexts – STSE (Science-Technology-Society-Environment) (Sjöström, Eilks & Zuin, 2016). In practice, this would mean including more philosophical, ethical and socio-political perspectives in chemistry/science education, and the focus should be on meaningfulness, problematization, understanding uncertainties and balancing the benefits and risks of science and technology.

I en tid av krig och kriser, faktaresistens och polarisering, behövs mer än någonsin en skola med bildning som vision.

Kommentar til Jette Reuss Schmidt og Jens Dolin: “Refleksioner over naturfaglig dannelse og kompetence – på baggrund af et forskerseminar”, MONA, 2022(3).

Vision III för naturvetenskaplig allmänbildning (critical scientific literacy) betonar moraliska-filosofiska-existentiella-politiska alternativ och socio-politisk handlingskompetens.

Since teaching in Swedish preschool was regulated in the Education Act 2010, preschool teachers have appeared to struggle with the concept of “teaching” in their day-to-day practices.This paper is based on a collaborative R&Dprogramme involving preschool teachers and researchers aimed to build knowledge of what can characterize teaching in preschool.The research was carried out in 40–44 preschools/preschool departments in eight municipalities in Sweden between 2018 and 2020. The method was based on a praxiographic approach where preschool teachers tried out different theory-informed teaching arrangements, including didaktik, variation-theory, post-structural gateway and pragmatic perspective. The material for the article consisted of 350 co-plans, 305 co-evaluations and 35 hours of video. Analysis was based on a didaktik premise and can be methodologically described in terms of abductive analysis. Theory-informed teaching arrangements have been tried out and shown to support teachers in conducting teaching in the complex reality that is based on scientific grounds and proven experience. In summary, the analysis is merged in a communicable entity through the concept of “multivocal didaktik modelling”.

In this Round Table-discussion we (Sjöström & Yavuzkaya) will put some “meta-didaktik models” on the table and based on them open up for discussing the role of Science|Environment|Health-issues in Bildung, its potential implications for Subject Didaktik (Subject-Specific Education) and how it can be explored in research studies. One of the models will be a recently published vision-oriented didaktik model for promoting powerful knowings and agency in science education (Yavuzkaya, Clucas and Sjöström, 2022). Some other models will be selected from a new Swedish textbook on Didaktik for Bildung (Sjöström & Tyson, 2022) and translated to English. We will start by short conceptualisations of Bildung and Didaktik, followed by a short presentation of the first selected “meta-didaktik model” followed by all round table-participants discussing it in relation to S|E|H-issues. This is then repeated for other meta-models, as many as there is room for.

Subject didactics has contact points to (1) other educational sciences such as pedagogy, pedagogical work, general didactics and education studies, (2) the school subject / subject area, and (3) practical teaching (Sjöström, 2018a). This model is only one of several different ways to understand subject didactics as a knowledge field (Cramer & Schreiber, 2018). Comparative studies of different areas of subject didactics are usually referred to as "comparative subject didactics" (e.g., Ligozat & Almqvist, 2018). I am interested in such studies as well as in what unites different subject didacts, i.e. what can be called "general subject didactics" (see e.g. Hopmann, 2007; Kansanen, 2009; Sjöström, 2018a). Wolfgang Klafki’s (2000/1958) five question areas about the subject matter and teaching are applicable on all subject areas. They deal with the structure and relevance of the content and implications for teaching and learning in and about the subject. Generally, I would argue that there are two main types of subject didactics, splitting all subject-specific didactic areas. The first type is empirical-analytical and is emphasizing the scientific side (in a quite narrow sense). The other type is humanistic-aesthetic and is – in addition to empirical-analytical aspects – also emphasizing philosophical-ethical and practical-aesthetic aspects of didactics. I would claim that Klafki’s Bildung-oriented didactics belongs to this second type. At the conference I will present a general model for humanistic subject didactics. It is helpful as a tool when reflecting about different aspects of subject didactics from humanistic perspectives for a specific subject area. The model consists of three reflection levels/areas as well as both socio-cultural-historical perspectives and worldview perspectives in a broad sense. An integrative worldview is especially interesting from a sustainability perspective (Hedlund-de Witt, 2014), and also an eco-reflexive approach (Sjöström, 2018b).

The Anthropocene makes visible the global challenges we are facing by highlighting the state of the planet, the human impact on Earth systems, and our unsustainable ways of living. Considering chemistry and chemistry education in relation to the Anthropocene provides an opportunity to challenge and rethink chemistry education. We utilized the concept Bildung towards self-determination, participation, and solidarity, which takes students as active participants in public debates in the process of democracy. In this study, we turn to pre-service teachers as a part of this rethinking process since such attempts start with teachers, even with teacher training. In this study, we utilize the transdisciplinary perspectives of pre-service upper secondary Science Studies teachers and aim to investigate their views on why, what, and how to teach in and about chemistry in relation to the Anthropocene. Focus group interviews were conducted with three groups of participants. Initial findings of thematic analysis revealed the themes, such as, teachers as citizens, the Anthropocene and transdisciplinarity, possible obstacles while integrating the Anthropocene in chemistry lessons.  

Didaktik models may look different, but have in common that they support teachers when reflecting on, answering and/or are practicing teaching based on the didactic questions: why, what, and how to teach a certain content for a certain group of learning subjects (e.g. Lunde & Sjöström, 2021; Sjöström, 2019a; Vallberg Roth et al., 2021). Didaktik models are useful in both planning and evaluation of teaching as well as in-action, and constitute the basis for teachers’ professional judgment and reflection. How can we better understand what Didaktik models are, different types and their usability in different contexts? And how can we better understand the concept of “didactic modelling” both in terms of research and teaching praxis? This latter concept can be given both the meaning of working systematically with Didaktik models in teaching practice as well as in didactic (collaboration) research, both theoretically and empirically (Sjöström, 2019a). Therefore, we propose a multidimensional understanding of didactic modelling based on a humanistic, Bildung-oriented, Didaktik-tradition (Hopmann, 2007). Examples will especially be given from the collaboration-research-project, Fundif (scientific leader: Ann-Christine Vallberg Roth), which is about teaching in preschool and has been going on 2018-2021 (Vallberg Roth et al., 2021). Several different examples will be given on Didaktik models, for example from Fundif. Also a new model for how Didaktik models can be understood as a bridge between (educational) theories and teaching practice will be presented. Often used synonyms for Didaktik models are tools, instruments, frameworks, compasses and thought figures. It is common with illustrated models, but also with such that are only described with words or presented in a table. Didaktik models often has both a theoretical-philosophical grounding and an empirical-analytical one. Examples of Didaktik models are: didactic questions, Klafki's questions, the Berliner model, didactic triangles, didactic relationship models, Herbart’s didactic tact, Schwab's degrees of freedom, organizing purposes and knowledge emphases (e.g. Lunde & Sjöström, 2021; Sjöström, 2019a; Vallberg Roth et al., 2021; Wickman et al., 2020). Also some content/discipline-specific Didaktik models will be described, mainly related to chemistry and sustainability issues (e.g. Sjöström, 2019b; Sjöström, Eilks & Talanquer, 2020; Herranen, Yavuzkaya & Sjöström, 2021).

Compared to Anglo-American instructional design, European Didaktik has focused much more on content and relevance. This presentation will address why, what and how to teach in and about chemistry, as an example of a school subject. It will elaborate on concepts such as disciplinary literacy, powerful knowledge, Bildung, sustainability education and didaktik models (Sjöström, 2019; Sjöström, Eilks & Talanquer, 2020), as well as on their interrelationships. The goal is to explain what can be meant with powerful (chemical) knowings and eco-reflexive Bildung, as well as the characteristics of didaktik models aiming at those two. Eco-reflexive Bildung-oriented chemistry/science education should, in addition to (a) transformative subject knowledge, emphasize both (b) scientific processes – NOS (Nature of Science) – and (c) societal contexts – STSE (Science-Technology-Society-Environment) (Sjöström, Eilks & Zuin, 2016). In practice, this would mean including more philosophical, ethical and socio-political perspectives in chemistry/science education, and the focus should be on problematization, understanding uncertainties and balancing the benefits and risks of science and technology. In addition to these three legs, Hodson (2003) has suggested socio-political actions as a fourth leg. It is about promoting students’ critical and active engagement in socio-scientific problems and those often involves complex environmental and health issues. In the presentation, corresponding didaktik models – and especially such focusing socio-chemical issues, will be elaborated on. This will be done based on different curriculum ideas as well as philosophical ideas. Recently, Carlgren (2020) problematized the related concept of powerful knowledge and instead suggested powerful knowings. This concept emphasizes that disciplinary knowledge is embedded in actions. It is about “knowledge-as-a-means-for-cultivation-of-human-powers” (p. 324). The presentation will highlight ideas about relevant, transformative and powerful (chemical) knowings for sustainability and related educative practices. Examples will be given from two ongoing PhD projects (Clucas and Yavuzkaya).

Många forskare menar att vårt samhälle kan betecknas som ett risksamhälle. Frågor om risk kopplar till flera olika skolämnen och inte minst till de naturvetenskapliga. En nyforskningsartikel presenterar en didaktisk modell som visar på riskbegreppets komplexitet och som hjälper lärare att behandla det på ett fylligt och mångsidigt sätt i sin undervisning.

Schenk, L., Hamza, K. M., Enghag, M., Lundegård, I., Arvanitis, L., Haglund, K., & Wojcik, A. (2019). Teaching and discussing about risk: seven elements of potential significance for science education. International Journal of Science Education, 41(9), 1271-1286.(https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09500693.2019.1606961)

This contribution focuses on characteristics of teaching for sustainability in Swedish preschools. The study is part of a much broader R&D programme where in total almost three hundred preschool teachers/managers collaborate with a researcher group to which we belong. The participants (N=170) were asked to answer a question in an e-mail-questionnaire about their views on sustainability teaching. On average a participant answered with 28 words, but obviously there was a big span, from 1 to 339 words in a single answer. In the word material (consisting of about 4800 words in total) we looked for common and prominent words, words used only low-frequently or not at all, and other patterns. We identified nineteen words that were used about 20 times or more. Among these words were: sorting, environment, material, recycle, water, food, sustainable development, and compost. More qualitatively we also looked for patterns/traces based on the three main didactic questions: Why? What? and How?. Based on these and other results we will discuss what can be meant with didactic modelling for sustainability in preschool. In the presentation we will also compare the preschool teachers’/managers’ views on sustainability teaching with their corresponding views on teaching about science, technology and health.

Didaktiska modeller kan fungera som en resurs för att reflektera och kommunicera kring didaktiska frågeställningar som dyker upp i planering, genomförande och utvärdering av undervisning. De kan även tillhandahålla en begreppsapparat som kan synliggöra saker som man som lärare annars inte lika lätt skulle ha uppmärksammat. I forskarskolan NaNo har begreppet didaktiska modeller spelat en central roll. Den tillkom utifrån tanken att förena ämnesdidaktisk forskning med lärares kunnande till en vetenskap för lärare.

The aim of this theoretical paper is to develop and present a didaktik model that embeds chemistry education into Environmental and Sustainability Education (ESE) using an eco-reflexive approach. A didaktik model is a tool to help educators make decisions and reflect on why, what, how, and/or when to teach. The model presented here is a revised version of the Jegstad and Sinnes model from 2015. It was systematically developed based on a critical analysis of the previous ESD (Education for Sustainable Development)-based model. This process is part of what is called didactic modeling. The revised model consists of the following six categories: (i) socio-philosophical framing; (ii) sustainable schooling and living; (iii) critical views on chemistry's distinctiveness and methodological character; (iv) powerful chemical content knowledge; (v) critical views of chemistry in society; and (vi) eco-reflexivity through environmental and sustainability education. As in the model by Jegstad and Sinnes, the eco-reflexive didaktik model seeks to support chemistry educators in their sustainability-oriented educational planning and analysis, but from a more critical perspective. Based on an eco-reflexive Bildung approach, one additional category-socio-philosophical framing-was added to the revised model. This is because the previous model does not take sufficient account of worldview perspectives, cultural values, and educational philosophy. The eco-reflexive didaktik model is illustrated with boxes, and it is suggested that all categories in these boxes should be considered in holistic and eco-reflexive chemistry education. The purpose of such education is to develop students' ChemoKnowings.

Rapporten baseras på forskningsdelen i ett forsknings- och utvecklingsprogram som syftar till att, i samverkan mellan förskollärare, ledare och forskare, beskriva och vidareutveckla kunskap om vad som kan känneteckna undervisning i förskola. Undervisning studeras i relation till vetenskaplig grund och beprövad erfarenhet. Forskningsdelen genomförs i mellan 40 till 44 förskolor/avdelningar belägna i åtta svenska kommuner, mellan åren 2018 och 2021. Sammantaget har 10 671 personer samtyckt att med­verka i forskningsdelen av programmet, varav 8 447 barn/vårdnadshavare och 2 224 förskollärare, barnskötare, rektorer, biträdande rektorer, chefer och övriga. Metoden kan beskrivas i termer av en ”praxiografisk samverkansmetod” som avser analys av registrerad praktik. Designen utgörs av parallella och prövande serier av teoriinformerade under­visningsupplägg där didaktik kombinerats med olika innehålls- och lärandeinriktningar. I samverkansforskningen inkluderas didaktiskt, variations­teoretiskt, poststrukturellt och pragmatiskt informerat undervisningsupplägg. Vidare inkluderar undervisningsuppläggen teorier med anknytning till innehåll, såsom musik och digital teknik, matematik och programmering, naturvetenskap, däribland kemi, samt rörelse, hälsa och hållbarhet. Materialet består av 473 samplaneringar, 444 sam­värderingar och 35,5 filmtimmar från genomförd undervisning. Analysen är didaktiskt orienterad och kan beskrivas i termer av abduktiv analys – en strategi för att kunna sluta sig till en nyanserad praktikteoretisk tolkning av vad som kan känneteckna undervisning i förskola. Resultatet indikerar flerstämmiga spår relaterade till didaktiska modeller i de teoriinformerade undervisningsuppläggen. Sammantaget fogas analysen samman och prövas i en kommunicerbar helhet genom konceptet ”flerstämmig didaktisk modellering”. Konceptuell replikering och upprepning av prövandet av konceptet i två FoU-program har inneburit att vi rört oss från en relativt vag aning om vad det kunde innebära till en allt tydligare och precisare innebörd genom framväxt av modeller och begrepp i relation till alltmer tillförlitliga forskningsresultat. Utfall i skriftliga frågor om undervisning, organisation, ledarskap och sambedömning, åren 2018 och 2021, tyder på delvis utvidgat och preciserat yrkesspråk, med spår av ett utvecklat professionellt och didaktiskt omdöme, inkluderat spår av flerstämmiga vetenskapliga grunder och beprövade erfarenheter. Samman­taget kan samverkans­forskningens kunskaps­utvecklande bidrag beskrivas i termer av teoriinformerad praktikutveckling och praktikgrundad koncept- och teoriutveckling.

Forskningen presenteras också på följande websidor: 

https://mau.se/forskning/projekt/flerstammig-didaktisk-modellering/ 

https://www.ifous.se/flerstammig-undervisning-i-forskolan/

Given the state of our planet in relation to human impact on the nature, the Anthropocene makes visible the global challenges we have been facing and unsustainable ways we are living in. Even though the scientific work in relation to Anthropocene is highly dependent on chemistry concepts, chemistry education is weakly connected to environment, society, nature and philosophy of science in its current state. Instead, instructional approaches still tend to introduce fundamental chemistry concepts in a quite isolated way. Even though there seems to be an increase in context-based approaches, there is a strong need for ecological, ethical, and philosophical framing. This contribution is based on a developing PhD project, which aims to reconceptualize chemistry education in the Anthropocene. In order to address this aim, several studies are being developed. One of these studies focuses on science teachers’ views on teaching and didactic questions in relation to the Anthropocene. In this contribution, preliminary findings will be presented. 

Bildning som ideal öppnar upp för meningsfullt lärande, kreativitet och etiskt-kritiskt handlande, skriver Jesper Sjöström och Ruhi Tysoni i en replik på Jakob Billmayers text om bildning som problematiskt begrepp.

A subject in school is a construction and way to organize knowledge in the curriculum (Örbring 2021). The curriculum can, in turn, be viewed at different levels (Doyle 1992) or in different arenas (Wahlström 2014). At the programmatic level, school subjects are constructed in writing through various actors and decisions. In this process, the actors make choices and evaluate the knowledge that each subject must contain. Science Studies (“naturkunskap”) is a subject in the Swedish upper secondary school which is a complex construction that draws content from several different academic disciplines. The purpose of this study is to investigate how science studies were constructed on a programmatic level in the 2011 curriculum, and what values ​​of knowledge were made by different actors (or stakeholders) in this process. The theoretical starting point is curriculum theory in terms of levels (Doyle 1992), arenas (Wahlström 2014) and pedagogical device (1990) and vertical and horizontal knowledge (Bernstein 1990; 1999). Also relevant are theories regarding knowledge in school subjects, such as those by Deng and Luke (2008) and Carlgren (2020). Furthermore, Klafki’s Didaktik analytical questions will be applied (e.g. Sjöström & Eilks 2020). The method is qualitative and draws inspiration from an earlier study of geography education (Örbring 2020). This study consists of analyses of documents from the process of making the steering documents for the curriculum, such as minutes, drafts, comments, meeting notes and working materials. A content analysis will be made of these documents, found in the archives of the National Agency for Education. Expected findings are about describing how the Science Studies subject was constructed, what knowledge is included, as well as whether there were/are different values, traditions and conflicts in the subject. Our hypothesis and preliminary analysis – based on reading of the syllabus as well as own experience – is that in Science Studies there is a subject identity tension between being a natural science subject (based on biology, chemistry, physics and earth science) and a societal- and environmental-oriented social science subject (based on themes such as sustainable development, energy and health issues). Related to this tension is the question of what role the Science Studies subject has in the Swedish education system. Science Studies can be seen as a continuation of the science subjects in compulsory school, or alternatively, a value-oriented interdisciplinary subject. In the presentation we will especially focus on the implications of the curriculum and Didaktik analysis for teachers and teaching.

Didaktik models can help us as educators to be aware of and reflect about all aspects of teaching and learning, including curricular and assessment issues (Sjöström, Eilks & Talanquer, 2020). For example they can be about the purpose of (chemical) education and corresponding choices of relevant content and contexts. Furthermore, they can also help us to reflect about implicit worldviews, ideologies and discourses in (chemical) teaching. One such model (Sjöström & Talanquer, 2014), aiming at humanistic and critical-reflexive chemistry teaching, is based on Mahaffy’s (2004) tetrahedron and has Johnstone’s (1993) triangle (macro; submicro; symbolic) in the bottom. In Mahaffy’s model, the top of the tetrahedron represents the human element, including both relevant contexts and productive practices. In the developed model, the top of the tetrahedron is subdivided into different levels: (0) pure chemistry (Johnstone’s triangle); (1) applied chemistry; (2a) socio-historical chemistry; (2b) socio-scientific chemistry; (3a) socio-cultural chemistry; and (3b) socio-political chemistry. By moving up in the tetrahedron we can expand our views of chemistry teaching, from a traditional focus on disciplinary content to also including aspects of the nature and culture of chemistry, the role of chemistry in society and critical perspectives, where the traditional discourse of chemistry is problematized (Sjöström, 2007). Essential questions for socio-political chemistry include value-centered issues of relevance to our global challenges. Among problematizing perspectives it is important to include different philosophical considerations, such as ontological, epistemological and ethical perspectives (Marcelino, Sjöström & Marques, 2019). Chemical thinking, learning, knowing and actions based on such views take moral-philosophical-existential-political alternatives into consideration and can be discussed based on current ideas on eco-reflexive Bildung and (chemical) education (Sjöström, Eilks & Zuin, 2016; Sjöström & Talanquer, 2018). A new didaktik model for socio-eco-reflexive chemistry education (Herranen, Yavuzkaya & Sjöström, 2021) will be highlighted at the symposium.

Bildung is an old and complex concept with at least five historical elements. A socio-political dimension is the most recent. As an educational concept it emerged in Germany in the mid eighteenth century. Especially in Germany and Scandinavia conceptions of Bildung became the general philosophical framework to guide both formal and informal education. How is the concept of Bildung used in the international science education literature? At least five versions/traditions of Bildung can be identified and will be described in the lecture. These will be related to different worldviews and philosophies of science education, such as different visions of scientific literacy. Especially the potential of eco-critical-reflexive Bildung, emphasizing the socio-political dimension, will be elaborated on as an educational meta-theory for science education in our Anthropocence epoch.

Indigenous knowledge provides specific views of the world held by various indigenous peoples. It offers different views on nature and science that generally differ from traditional Western science. Futhermore, it introduces different perspectives on nature and the human in nature. Coming basically from a Western perspective on nature and science, the paper analyzes the literature in science education focusing on research and practices of integrating indigenous knowledge with science education. The paper suggests Didaktik models and frameworks for how to elaborate on and design science education for sustainability that takes indigenous knowledge and related non-Western and alternative Western ideas into consideration. To do so, indigenous knowledge is contextualized with regards to related terms (e.g., ethnoscience), and with Eastern perspectives (e.g., Buddhism), and alternative Western thinking (e.g., post-human Bildung). This critical review provides justification for a stronger reflection about how to include views, aspects, and practices from indigenous communities into science teaching and learning. It also suggests that indigenous knowledge offers rich and authentic contexts for science learning. At the same time, it provides chances to reflect views on nature and science in contemporary (Western) science education for contributing to the development of more balanced and holistic worldviews, intercultural understanding, and sustainability.

Under senare år har det blivit allt vanligare med hållbarhets- och samhällsfrågor i NT-klassrummen. Vad elever redan gör och vad de vill göra i framtiden för att förbättra världen kan användas för att utveckla sådan undervisning. En ny forskningsstudie visar hur engagemanget i hållbarhetsfrågor kan se ut hos starkt nv-inriktade elever.

This paper focuses on characteristics of science teaching in preschool. Science in general is in focus, but a special interest is put on what may characterize chemistry teaching in preschool. The study is part of a much broader R&D programme where in total almost three hundred preschool teachers/managers collaborate with a researcher group to which we belong. The participants (N=177) were in the autumn 2018 asked to answer a question in an e-mail-questionnaire about their views on science/chemistry teaching in preschool. On average a participant answered with 30 words, but obviously there was a big span, from 1 to 444 words in a single answer. In the word material (consisting of about 5400 words in total) we looked for common and prominent words, words used only low-frequently or not at all, and other patterns. We identified eighteen words that were used about 30 times or more. Among these words are: experiment, water, animal, plant, nature, forest, explore, examine, phenomenon, and baking. Low frequently used words were categorized in seven categories, among them chemistry. The words atom, molecule and particle could not at all be found in the word material. More qualitatively we also looked for patterns/traces based on the three main Didaktik questions: Why? What? and How?. Statements from the preschool teachers/managers were categorized in seven categories. In the discussion and forthcoming studies we will relate science/chemistry teaching in preschool both to the recently revised curriculum for the Swedish preschool and to other content areas and more general theories and ideas on what may characterize teaching in preschool.

Over several decades, there have been many calls to transform chemistry education in order to promote learning and engaging students in chemistry. For example, conceptual understanding research gave its place to developmental approaches, namely, learning progressions. However, a lot of researchers stated the need for context-based approaches to make chemistry education more meaningful and relevant for students. Socio-scientific issues (SSI) oriented chemistry education, for example, can be considered as a contextual framing. However, this approach tended to offer more things to know, instead of providing a context for the students to engage in critical discussions about ecological, economic, and societal dimensions (Gilbert, 2016) of chemical pursuits. In consequence, this contribution aims to provoke a discussion on how chemistry education can be reframed in the Anthropocene and problematize systems thinking as a way of the Anthropocene aware chemistry education. It is argued that there is a need for rethinking chemistry education in the complex societies stemming from a noticeable human impact on chemical, biological, and geological systems in the Earth (Mahaffy, 2014). Acknowledging that human factor is responsible from the changes in the Earth systems more than before, we are being driven to an uncertain and a complex future (Guyotte, 2020; Stratford, 2019). Considering the role of chemistry in the global challenges, chemistry education is suggested to adopt a humanized approach including the role of human activity, socio-scientific issues, benefits-costs-risk analysis of chemical activities, e.g. by utilizing a cross disciplinary approach (Zowada et al., 2019). In addition, involving in chemical pursuits as scientists or citizens, requires taking quality of life and preserving environment into consideration (Sjöström & Talanquer, 2018). 50 In this presentation, systems thinking is problematized as a way of addressing global challenges through chemistry education and conceptualized as a way of acting on material world through sustainability perspective and decision-making processes (Mahaffy, Matlin, Whalen, & Holme, 2019). It is aimed to develop knowledge through the questions which living in a complex, uncertain era made visible: How can chemistry education be reconceptualized in the Anthropocene? How can systems thinking be infused in chemistry education?