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All STEM-Ed up: Gaps and Silences around Ecological Education in Australia

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  • Annette Gough

    (School of Education, RMIT University, Melbourne 3000, Australia)

Abstract

Similar to much of the world, the Australian Government has a vision for society to be engaged in and enriched by science which has, as its prime focus, building skills and capabilities in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). Simultaneously, the Government’s policies and projects, including in education, ignore intergovernmental environmental initiatives, such as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES). This article critically analyses the Australian Government’s STEM and climate change education policies and programs, including Citizen Science activities, through an ecological education lens and finds many, and growing, gaps and silences in these areas. It compares the Australian situation with STEM and ecological education-related developments in several other countries. In the context of significant global changes such as the COVID-19 pandemic, this article argues that it is time for the Australian education agenda to take the Government’s international responsibilities seriously, include meaningful engagement with climate change and biodiversity related topics through ecological education in the school curriculum, and discusses what a reimagined school science curriculum could look like.

Suggested Citation

  • Annette Gough, 2021. "All STEM-Ed up: Gaps and Silences around Ecological Education in Australia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(7), pages 1-19, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:7:p:3801-:d:526608
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Denise Wilson, 2019. "Exploring the Intersection between Engineering and Sustainability Education," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(11), pages 1-16, June.
    2. Francisco Del Cerro Velázquez & Fernando Lozano Rivas, 2020. "Education for Sustainable Development in STEM (Technical Drawing): Learning Approach and Method for SDG 11 in Classrooms," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(7), pages 1-18, March.
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