| Abstract [eng] |
The doctoral thesis posits that STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) education could be a viable educational response to the Anthropocene era's challenges. The thesis's objective is to scrutinize the philosophical and ideological underpinnings of STEM education within the Anthropocene context and explore its posthumanist potential for reconceptualization in Lithuania. It uncovers that the prevailing instrumentalist discourse in STEM education prescribes a specific interpretation and evaluation of science literacy, grounded in positivist, ontological, and epistemological perspectives. The dissertation contends that the posthumanist notions within the philosophy of education discourse hold relevance for STEM education. These notions include a reimagined conception of the human being, a challenge to the binary logic of object/subject, and theories from feminism, post-colonialism, and anti-racism. A multilevel survey of STEAM education experts (n=45) revealed four conceptualizations of STEAM in Lithuania: 1) Transhumanist STEM+A; 2) Posthumanist STEAM; 3) Capitalocene STEM+A; and 4) Plantaciocene STEAM. The dissertation advocates that the second transdisciplinary, post-normal science STEAM conceptualization, as formulated by the experts, is posthumanistic. This conceptualization not only facilitates the development of techno-scientific, engineering solutions for the Anthropocene but also allows for the reevaluation of its foundational assumptions. Posthumanist STEAM challenges disciplinary boundaries, human-centrism, and systems that perpetuate asymmetrical power relations, including the natural sciences themselves. |
