Integrating Sustainability through Socio-Scientific Issues in Chile: towards a Decolonial Chemistry Education

Title: Integrating Sustainability through Socio-Scientific Issues in Chile: towards a Decolonial Chemistry Education

Date: Wednesday 22nd of April , 4:00- 5:30 pm.

Abstract: This webinar explores what can happen when school chemistry engages directly with real social and environmental problems. Focusing on a lesson about copper mining in Chile, I consider how teaching can either present chemistry as fixed knowledge to be learned, or as something connected to questions of justice, responsibility, and everyday life.

Working with a Chilean teacher, we designed a lesson around copper extraction – a topic that is scientifically important but also linked to pollution, inequality, and difficult political choices. By looking closely at classroom talk and students’ work, I trace moments when discussion opened up space for different viewpoints and ethical questions, and other moments when it narrowed toward single, authoritative answers. I use the idea of epistemic openness and closure to describe this movement between opening and narrowing what counts as valid knowledge in the classroom.

These shifts matter. They show both the possibilities and the limits of teaching chemistry through socio-scientific issues. I argue that bringing a decolonial perspective to chemistry education can help move teaching beyond delivering content, toward practices that recognise multiple forms of knowledge and invite young people to think critically about how science relates to real-world challenges. At the same time, such possibilities depend on deliberate pedagogical choices and on how classroom conversations are guided in the moment.

Bio: Dr Denise Quiroz-Martínez is a Lecturer in Primary Education at the Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Stirling. Originally from Chile, she is a qualified teacher of Chemistry and Biology and is fully registered with the General Teaching Council for Scotland in Secondary Education – Biology with Science and Chemistry with Science. Dr Quiroz-Martínez has taught science to learners aged 5–18 in diverse school contexts in Chile, including early years, primary, and secondary education. Her teaching has emphasised experimentation, outdoor learning, and inclusive pedagogies, shaping a practice grounded in accessibility and engagement for all learners. She holds a PhD and MA in Science Education from University College London (Institute of Education) and a first-class BSc in Chemistry and Biology Education from the University of Santiago of Chile. Her doctoral research examined how Chilean chemistry teachers integrate sustainability into their teaching, highlighting opportunities and constraints within curriculum and classroom practice. Her research interests include science and teacher education, curriculum and assessment, and environmental and sustainability education. She serves professional societies and grounds her work in social justice, interdisciplinarity, and transformative pedagogy.