ABSTRACT
This chapter situates the book's conceptual foundation in justice-first teaching aimed at empowering students, deepening their relationships with nature, and enabling them to envision positive change in their society. It proposes science education as a key tool for achieving these goals. It then introduces concepts and educational research that support the value of place-based teaching, inquiry-based teaching, and outdoor teaching for this justice-first science education. It identifies the central connection between these teaching approaches with consideration of social justice, decolonization, and student identity. It also articulates how these teaching approaches enable teachers to meet the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) as well as achieve goals beyond them.
