ABSTRACT
My contention here is that while the scientific literacy movement has much to commend it, it still offers too narrow a vision of what science education might achieve. I would like to explore what a science curriculum might be like that took as its premise the notion that science education should aim for social justice. This is not to suggest that this should be the only aim of school science; rather, that it is an aim that has been very greatly underplayed. I aim to build on the work of a number of authors including Longbottom and Butler (1999), Longbottom (1999), Rodriguez (1998) and Barton (1998, 2001), all of whom have extended the debate about the aims of school science. Situating science education within a framework of social justice brings it alongside certain other components of the curriculum. For too long the science education debate has been conducted without reference to the wider aims of schooling.
