ABSTRACT
Summary: While relishing traditions and group belonging, humans also strive to innovate-to actualize desired changes. In many contexts throughout the world, however, innovation has been increasingly limited to a few powerful people and groups. Much of the world seems highly influenced by neoliberal capitalism, in which financiers and corporations are the main controllers of innovation-using it to encourage consumption of for-profit products and services that often prioritize image over quality. This zeitgeist of hyper-consumerism appears to be leading to many problems for the wellbeing of individuals, societies and environments. Given the important roles of fields science and engineering in capitalist activities, school science can make significant contributions to generating societies that may effectively address such problems. As argued here, students can gain significant expertise and confidence for carrying out research-informed actions to address so-called ‘socio-scientific issues.’ In doing so, more citizens could be innovating for the common good.
