Integrating Sustainability Through Socio‐Scientific Issues in Chile
Towards a Decolonial Chemistry Education
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 21392925 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Denise Quiroz‐Martinez (Faculty of Social Sciences University of Stirling Stirling UK, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Publication date | 2026-05-23 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Science Education (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0036-8326 • E-ISSN: 1098-237X |
| Publisher | Wiley (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1002/sce.70083 |
| OpenAlex | W7162189941 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 70 |
This study examines how integrating sustainability through socio‐scientific issue (SSI) in secondary chemistry teaching shapes epistemic openness and closure from a decolonial perspective, as mediated through classroom discourse. Drawing on a co‐planned lesson on copper mining in Chile – a scientifically rich yet ethically and politically charged context – I analyse how pedagogical decisions positioned chemistry either as an apolitical framing (Gandolfi 2025b) or as a practice entangled with extractivism, environmental injustice, and responsibility. Using reflexive thematic analysis of lesson audio recordings, student artefacts, and researcher fieldnotes, and interpreting classroom interaction through Mortimer and Scott's (2003) communicative approaches and Gandolfi's (2025a) decolonial framework, I identify three key pedagogical moments across the lesson. Findings show that dialogic discourse initially opened space for students' ethical concerns but remained limited without follow‐up that foregrounded structural causes of harm. A subsequent authoritative focus consolidated disciplinary understanding while producing epistemic closure. Epistemic openness was later re‐activated when chemical evidence was reconnected to sustainability and enacted materially through waste‐management deliberations. Findings suggest that decolonial perspectives in chemistry education can move teaching beyond content delivery toward pedagogies that centre justice, epistemic plurality, and critical engagement with real‐world challenges, while remaining contingent on communicative shifts and deliberate pedagogical mediation
Context (archaeology) · Dialogic · Discipline · Framing (construction) · Openness to experience · Philosophy of science · Reflexivity · Sustainability · Thematic analysis · Environmental Education and Sustainability · Science Education and Pedagogy · Sustainability in Higher Education
Pedagogy of Hope
Hermeneutic Phenomenological Research
Reconsidering Different Visions of Scientific Literacy and Science Education Based on the Concept of Bildung
The future we want
Globalization and environmental education
Education for Sustainable Development
Justice‐centered science pedagogy
Teaching Socioscientific Issues
(Re)considering Nature of Science Education in the Face of Socio-scientific Challenges and Injustices
Epistemic and Political Confrontations Around the Public Policies to Fight Covid-19 Pandemic
Embracing Complexity and Uncertainties to Deal with Climate Change Challenges
Education for the future? Critical evaluation of education for sustainable development goals
Chile and the Neoliberal Trap
Reflecting on reflexive thematic analysis
A Qualitative Assessment of Community Learning Initiatives for Environmental Awareness and Behaviour Change
The Global Environmental Justice Atlas (EJAtlas)
Knowledge, Action and Pro-environmental Behaviour
Measuring student teachers’ understandings and self-awareness of sustainability
Creating space for ‘the political’ in environmental and sustainability education practice
Chemistry teachers’ perspectives and understanding in integrating sustainability into teaching
Teaching high school chemistry through education for sustainability
Reinventing critical pedagogy as decolonizing pedagogy
Analysis of meanings of the concept of sustainability
Exploring strategies to sustain teacher agency in the context of ‘hyper-accountability’
Teacher and youth priorities for education for environmental sustainability
Qualitative research
It Looks as if They Threw the Entire Periodic Table Into the River
Beyond STS
La sustentabilidad o sostenibilidad
Coloniality and Modernity/Rationality
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |