This part of the framework aims to present transversal teachers' competences and attitudes required to support students' meta-scientific literacy skills. The aim of the Educators' dimension is to translate student MSL into competences that teachers need to empower their students to become meta-scientifically literate democratic citizens. Furthermore, includes Teachers Competences and Attitudes required to foster MSL.
\nPreface: The teaching strategies outlined below provide effective steps for addressing socio-scientific issues and for creating opportunities for students to develop meta-scientific literacies in your classrooms as well as they make you senisitve for teaching SSI-topics in an emiotionally loaded society.
\nMake yourself familiar with the term "socio-scientific issues". Take a look at a well-known example of a SSI, such as "global warming," and then reflect on it. If possible, use reflective writing as a method to guide your considerations and maybe already gather some relevant content points for your lesson.
\nIdentify a connection between the curriculum and the topic. The topic may relate to your subject in only one aspect — for example, through its controversy or its social dimension. That is perfectly fine and already a sufficient reason to include it in your teaching. For instance, there is no problem in teaching the SSI "global warming" in a traditional English classroom. Why? 'Reading competences' can be fostered, when students' select sources for a discussion on global warming. Or you select a text on global warming and students use a traditional method to foster reading competences while preparing for a discussion-round or a late-night talk on 'global warming'. Or you select different sources on global warming, some are good sources, some lack of evidence and students have to discuss the quality of the source and the markers of the text, that show the quality.
\nSame there for ancient languages: For instance, use a translated passage from Cicero "de re publica" – "the ideal state" as initial point to discuss how an ideal state can act to address a SSI or how an ideal state should be, so that students can take action and engage in stopping global warming.
\nOf course, both young and experienced teachers know about time management and classroom management. They know how to create learning environments in which independent and guided learning is possible. They know how to provide, prepare, and reflect on knowledge and can plan individual, pair, and group work as well as panel discussions.
\nAddressing socio-scientific issues in the classroom does not necessarily pose a challenge in terms of content, but social and interpersonal challenges may arise. Teachers should therefore prepare themselves specifically for the controversies that these topics raise in terms of content, media, and society. Accordingly, skills and methods should be used that help teachers to deal professionally with these controversies among students or between their own point of view and the different points of view of the students. This requires a high degree of self-reflection and, above all, the ability to distance oneself from one's own sensitivities in the classroom. However, teachers should be able to remain neutral on a topic of discussion. If personal involvement makes this impossible, it is advisable to show students authentically what opinion one holds and for what reasons.
\nEthical principles, values, and attitudes cannot be explained or taught. Students acquire these principles indirectly through a comprehensive humanistic education and can learn them by example when teachers act as role models and speak and act in an ethically and morally conscious manner themselves.
\nTeaching techniques and learning environments can structure speech, discussion, and action along ethical principles, but an ethical attitude cannot be directly instilled. Knowing about ethics is not enough to act in a morally impeccable manner. Furthermore, it is also important that students are not required to act in a "morally impeccable" manner, because people make mistakes and should be allowed to make mistakes. Schools and teaching can and should provide a framework in which students can try this out.
\nBelow, we list and discuss a few points that the developers of SciLMi consider relevant for teaching SSI topics and meta-scientific literacies.
\nTeaching techniques that could be helpful during the lesson phase are listed below.
\nSet up 'discussion rules': Work with the students to decide how to act in a discussion to remain open, respectful and tolerant. Try out the discussion rules in a busy discussion about the 'best' Walt Disney character, for example. Adjust the rules as necessary and display them in the room for everyone to see. Model respect an empathy as a teacher so children can learn from your behavior. Avoid assumptionms: Don't assume that the students know about empathy and respectful behavior. Give them clear and age-appropriate explanations, examples, and opportunities to practice.
\nAs a teacher, ensure that the following properties are included in the discussion rules:
\nOPPENNESS: To be open to each other:
\nListen to each other – look at the person who is talking. Seek eye contact and be aware of your non-verbal reactions to the speaker. Try to avoid negative reactions. If you have a completely different opinion, stay calm, nod and listen until the speaker has finished, noting the points you disagree with.
\nSeparate the person you are discussing from their opinion! Be aware of your feelings. If you start to feel overwhelmed during a discussion, say, "I need a short break." Take a step back, breathe five times, and tell the person you are talking to about it.
\nRESPECT: To be respectful to each other:
\nRemind and/or restore the golden rule where people treat others the way they would want to be treated. Examples for respectful behaviour are:
\nActive listening, so the other person sees that you take them seriously.
Apologizing, if necessary (everybody can overshoot the mark, sincere apology can be given and be accepted by the other)
Using culturally appropriate manners (e.g., a podiums-discussion can be guided by courtesy).
Celebrate others accomplishements (For example, thank you for sharing your opinion with me. You have been very clear, and I found your words easy to follow, even though I see some points very differently)
Being assertive. Don't hold back if you have a good reason to question what's being said. Answering is more respectful than ignoring.
TOLERANCE: to be tolerant to each other:
\nFurthermore…
\nCourtesy is one of the most important foundations for objective discussion when views are controversial. Courtesy can be practised externally and maintained through rules.
\nFurthermore, politeness is the outward expression of inner values and principles, which can be discussed with pupils.
\nKeywords when dealing with respect, tolerance and openness:
\nSSI topics are controversial. Teaching them, as well as longing for ScilMi meta-scientific literacy, aims to change opinions and mindsets. SSI Topics are not only controversal, teaching them and besides longing for the ScilMi meta-scientific literacies also aims for the change of opinion and mindsets. I.Ideally not in the way of "you have to think this and that", but the change shall arise naturally in getting more and more facts and discussing the important topics with peers. In this context, it is essential to learn how to give constructive feedback and offer appreciative criticism, as well as how to deal with criticism competently.
\nTeachers reflection:
\nHow did you feel before, during and after the ScilMi-lesson?
\nWhich challenges ocured during the lesson?
\nWhat did the lesson move in the class?
\nWhat was missing?
\nStudents reflection
\nWhere can I find them?
\nwhere can I find them?
\nhow?! Finding methods!
\ngroup work methods missing!
\nhow?! Finding methods!
\nActivate students' relevant background and experiences from their daily lives linked to the SSI presented
\nDealing with different opinions:
\nTry a game of 'Would you rather' to draw attention to people's differing opinions in a low-stakes context. You can also use book characters or sentence starters to encourage students to share different points of view. Through modeling, show students how to respond respectfully and without judgement to someone's differing opinion.Remind them that it's expected to disagree. That's what makes us unique individuals. When disagreements happen over a higher stakes or emotionally charged issue, let students know that it's also okay to set boundaries when discussing opinions.
\nInquiry-learning techniques:
\nInquiry-based learning are related to teaching problem solving skills.
\nA common technique, which is part of inquiry learning is lateral reading. Lateral reading helps to determine the credibility of information by searching for other information on the same topic from other sources and for other information from the same source. Evaluating where information comes from is a crucial part of deciding whether it is trustworthy. This is also what professional fact-checkers do.
\nGame-based learning or learning through educational games can be understood as a type of project-based learning.
One example of using game-based learning to increase students' information literacy is a study by Admiraal (2015). He studies a digital role-play game (SplitsZ!), which was set up to develop students' reflective Internet skills. An online workspace was used, similar to Habbo Hotel. The mission of the game was to promote a fictional celebrity using towers with billboards and monitors. Each tower was owned by a small group of students (pairs or triads created by the teacher to be mixed-gender groups) who constructed their towers with clips, images, slogans, and other textual sources. In each of the six levels, these pairs of students played different roles (e.g., manager, marketing manager, and journalist), which were represented by avatars. The more popular a celebrity was, the higher were the popularity scores of that group.
\nexample!
\nexamples!!
\nexamples!
\nProject-based learning techniques are common across all levels of education and mean that students learn by participating in the development of a project, typically involving artifact construction with the objective of solving a real-life problem. By doing so, students need to check the credibility of their sources.
\nDigital Story Writing
\nAn example of project-based learning techniques that were focused on students' information literacy, is the study of Ng et al. (2022) about Digital Story Writing (DSW). Students had to write a digital story about the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI).
\nCognitive conflict techniques or Constructive controversy is an instructional procedure that is designed to create intellectual conflict among students because of the lack of operational procedures to guide them. Constructive controversy exists when one person's ideas, information, conclusions, theories, and opinions are incompatible with those of another and the two seek to reach an agreement (Johnson & Johnson, 2009). Related to controversy is cognitive conflict, which occurs when incompatible ideas exist simultaneously in a person's mind or when information being received does not seem consistent with what one already knows.
\nOne way to use constructive controversy in pedagogy is the use of mysteries, one of the techniques to support the development of students' problem-solving skills based in a cognitive conflict. Karkdijk and colleagues (Karkdijk et al., 2019) designed two mysteries in geography learning to support students' geographical thinking skills. Information literacy can be understood to be an important element in these geographical thinking skills. The mysteries were regional case studies concerning relationships between man and environment and between local actors within a specific region, and hence we considered them to be geographical mysteries. The Rio mystery questioned the decision of a slum dweller (Fabio) not to move out of his favela which was threatened by landslides into another house in the suburbs of Rio. The focus was on understanding the geography, society and economy of Rio to explain his decision. The Jakarta mystery asked students to evaluate the complaint of a Jakarta official that slum dwellers along rivers in Jakarta were causing the floods in Jakarta. The focus was on understanding the hydrological system of the river basin and delta where Jakarta is situated in order to evaluate the accusation. Each mystery covered a series of lessons.
\nTalking points: Talking points are 'a list of statements which may be factually accurate, contentious or downright wrong' (Mercer et al., 2009). These statements 'provide a focus for discussion by offering a range of ideas' (p. 364) that students can consider.
\n