Science Education as Public and Social Wealth: The Notion of Citizenship from a European Perspective

In this paper, (a) we present a framework for developing a science content (i.e., science concepts, scientific methods, scientific mindset, and problem-solving strategies for socio-scientific issues) used to design the new Cypriot science curriculum aiming at ensuring a democratic and human society, (b) we use the previous framework to explore the citizenship notion which is cultivated by the science curriculum content of the primary education (grades 5 and 6) of two European countries: Cyprus and Greece. The analysis focuses on two science topics: (a) Health and human body, and (b) Natural environment. The results of this analysis highlight features that outline two different kinds of citizenship. On one hand, the cultivation of the citizenship in the Greek science curriculum is based on the knowledge acquisition by students, mainly related to science concepts. The Greek science curriculum promotes the idea that citizenship education is strengthened when science education focuses on the acquisition of knowledge concerning the "academic world" of science in order for the students to be able to decide on various socio-scientific issues. On the other hand, the Cypriot science curriculum promotes the notion of citizenship based on the cultivation of knowledge, competencies, and mindset that can contribute to the improvement of children's everyday lives. In this direction, students are strengthened socio-politically to reshape our society towards social justice and equity. We support the latter notion of citizenship and argue that the "scientific literacy for all" movement can radically overthrow the social obstacles that prevent us from moving towards a democratic and human society. (Contains 1 figure.)