‘Going against the grain’: Exploring the identities of science educators for a socio‐political and social justice‐informed science education in England

Abstract

Abstract This study is positioned within debates in the Science Education field about its role in local–global social justice science issues (SJSIs), such as the COVID‐19 pandemic and unequal distributions of health‐related support and outcomes, climate degradation, and the return of scientific racism. With a growing number of scholars advocating a socio‐political and social justice‐informed turn in science education to address such SJSIs (emphasising critical reflection on science's political, ethical, and social dimensions), special attention needs to be paid to science educators as key agents of such a turn. However, in England, where this study is based, educational policies have increasingly prioritised performativity, standardised curricula, and compliance‐driven teacher work and education, marginalising critical engagement with socio‐political and social justice issues across the profession. Thus, in this article, we examine the findings from an interview‐based qualitative study with 18 science educators (student teachers, schoolteachers, teacher educators) currently working in connection with the English secondary education sector, focusing on their identities as ‘going against the grain’ of mainstream science education policies and practices in the country, particularly in relation to socio‐political and social justice issues. Our thematic findings—Finding Science, Seeking connection, Experiencing injustices and disadvantages, Wanderlust, Meeting role models, and Reflexivity—help illuminate who science educators working for a socio‐political and social justice‐informed turn in Science Education are, and what kinds of teacher education, professional development, and school structures are needed to support and sustain these educators in England.