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curricular units or classroom activities. They are developed over time, through
repeated active learning experiences in formal and informal contexts; experiences
that go further than ‘applying knowledge’ to everyday contexts – as many school
curriculum documents propose – and supporting learning through sociopolitical
action (Alsop and Bencze 2014). Activism requires the development of an atmosphere of shared responsibility and commitment and a collaborative relationship
between schools and communities in the attempt to find appropriate solutions for
the problems they identify as important and socially relevant (Hodson 2014).
The STEPWISE programme (Science and Technology Education Promoting
Well-being for Individuals, Societies and Environments) developed by Larry Bencze
offers a framework for curriculum and instruction centred on students’ engagement
in self-led and open-ended inquiry, based on their own primary (experiments and
correlational studies) and secondary (using data collect by others and made available in the Internet) research for developing plans of action to address socioscientific or socio-environmental issues (Bencze 2013, 2017). The key idea of
STEPWISE is to encourage and empower students to use science and technology in
actions for helping others and the planet. Under the STEPWISE framework, many
activist initiatives have been developed in several countries and educational contexts with a considerable impact on students’ active citizenship competences (Alsop
and Bencze 2014; Bencze 2017).
Influenced by the STEPWISE framework, the ‘WE ACT – Promoting Collective
Activism on Socio-Scientific and Socio-Environmental Issues’ is another project
that has been supporting teachers and students from several countries and school
levels in taking informed and negotiated actions to address social and environmental
issues (Conceição et al. 2019; Reis and Tinoca 2018; Scheid and Reis 2016; GarcíaBermúdez et al. 2014, 2017; Reis 2014). It is centred in (1) the promotion of an
active inquiry-based learning regarding real-life problems associated with science
and technology and (2) the stimulation of students’ participation in collective democratic problem-solving action (e.g. through art initiatives and uses of Web 2.0 tools).
Baptista et al. (2018) present and discuss an example of youth activism – developed
within WE ACT – centred on a specific environmental problem identified by children: the collapse of bee colonies in a rural area in Portugal. The activists were 26
students from an elementary school aged between 8 and 10 years old. During a
2-month period, students were engaged in the identification of possible causes and
solutions for the selected problem. The investigations carried out by the students in
combination with their knowledge of the agricultural practices used by their families allowed them to recognise the inadequacy of these practices and learn about
environmentally sustainable alternative practices. As a way to develop a collective
action in their local community, the students wrote a manifesto – using arguments
focused in the use of pesticides and exposing some of the local agricultural practices
as a possible cause of the bees’ disappearance – and asked the local population to
subscribe to it. This manifesto was proposed by the students and subscribed by the
population during a public session in the school. It worked as a commitment to
change agricultural practices that were harmful to the ecosystem, and for the adoption of more environmental and sustainable methodologies. This activist initiative
P. Reis
curricular units or classroom activities. They are developed over time, through
repeated active learning experiences in formal and informal contexts; experiences
that go further than ‘applying knowledge’ to everyday contexts – as many school
curriculum documents propose – and supporting learning through sociopolitical
action (Alsop and Bencze 2014). Activism requires the development of an atmosphere of shared responsibility and commitment and a collaborative relationship
between schools and communities in the attempt to find appropriate solutions for
the problems they identify as important and socially relevant (Hodson 2014).
The STEPWISE programme (Science and Technology Education Promoting
Well-being for Individuals, Societies and Environments) developed by Larry Bencze
offers a framework for curriculum and instruction centred on students’ engagement
in self-led and open-ended inquiry, based on their own primary (experiments and
correlational studies) and secondary (using data collect by others and made available in the Internet) research for developing plans of action to address socioscientific or socio-environmental issues (Bencze 2013, 2017). The key idea of
STEPWISE is to encourage and empower students to use science and technology in
actions for helping others and the planet. Under the STEPWISE framework, many
activist initiatives have been developed in several countries and educational contexts with a considerable impact on students’ active citizenship competences (Alsop
and Bencze 2014; Bencze 2017).
Influenced by the STEPWISE framework, the ‘WE ACT – Promoting Collective
Activism on Socio-Scientific and Socio-Environmental Issues’ is another project
that has been supporting teachers and students from several countries and school
levels in taking informed and negotiated actions to address social and environmental
issues (Conceição et al. 2019; Reis and Tinoca 2018; Scheid and Reis 2016; GarcíaBermúdez et al. 2014, 2017; Reis 2014). It is centred in (1) the promotion of an
active inquiry-based learning regarding real-life problems associated with science
and technology and (2) the stimulation of students’ participation in collective democratic problem-solving action (e.g. through art initiatives and uses of Web 2.0 tools).
Baptista et al. (2018) present and discuss an example of youth activism – developed
within WE ACT – centred on a specific environmental problem identified by children: the collapse of bee colonies in a rural area in Portugal. The activists were 26
students from an elementary school aged between 8 and 10 years old. During a
2-month period, students were engaged in the identification of possible causes and
solutions for the selected problem. The investigations carried out by the students in
combination with their knowledge of the agricultural practices used by their families allowed them to recognise the inadequacy of these practices and learn about
environmentally sustainable alternative practices. As a way to develop a collective
action in their local community, the students wrote a manifesto – using arguments
focused in the use of pesticides and exposing some of the local agricultural practices
as a possible cause of the bees’ disappearance – and asked the local population to
subscribe to it. This manifesto was proposed by the students and subscribed by the
population during a public session in the school. It worked as a commitment to
change agricultural practices that were harmful to the ecosystem, and for the adoption of more environmental and sustainable methodologies. This activist initiative
P. Reis