ABSTRACT
Since the fi rst use of ‘scientifi c literacy’ in the late 1950s, science educators and policy makers have gradually reconceptualised the term to such an extent that one author remarked relatively recently that “scientifi c literacy is an ill-defi ned and diffuse concept” (Laugksch, 2000, p. 71). Despite this perceived imprecision, scientifi c literacy appears to underpin the curriculum standards of many countries and is at the heart of international comparisons of student attainment (and thus of education systems) including the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD) Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) study. But why is something so slippery-so hard to defi ne-treated as if it is the Holy Grail of science education? The answer, it would appear, is that its slipperiness is the key to its longevity.
