Teaching and learning for critical scientific literacy : communicating knowledge uncertainties, actors interplay and various discourses about chemicals

The modern society can be described as a globalized risk society characterised by increasing complexity and unpredictable consequences of techno-scientific innovations and production. One example is the “chemicalisation” of our society, bodies and nature. In order to manage this, society needs educated citizens who are able to understand the complexity of the world and make value-based decisions – in both their private and professional lives. For example critical-democratic citizens – with “Bildung” – are able to value information about environmental chemicals and chemical risks. One arena with great potential for enabling critical-democratic citizenship is education. This chapter describes and problematizes teaching and learning about risk-related chemicals, such as additives, contaminants, pollution and various environmental chemicals. Such socio-chemical issues is a type of socio-scientific issues (SSI). Chemicals Education is suggested to be based on a “chemicals education triangle”, with the following three corners: (1) the nature of chemical risks, (2) the interplay between actors in “the chemical society”, and (3) pluralism and awareness regarding various “chemical discourses”. The communication inside and outside the science/chemistry classroom about the interplay between chemistry and society can be analyzed and discussed based on such a triangle