Towards Scientific Literacy in Inclusive Science Education

Abstract: Scientific literacy, a central goal of modern science education, should be accessible to all students regardless of their backgrounds. Despite international education reforms focused on diversity, equity and inclusion many teachers struggle to create inclusive science lessons. One reason may be, that creating inclusive science lessons is challenging: it requires teachers to balance the demands of science education with the diverse needs of their students. Therefore, teachers need support in planning inclusive science lessons. To address this issue, members of a German network for inclusive science education (Netzwerk inklusiver naturwissenschaftlicher Unterricht, NinU) have developed the NinU framework. This framework integrates perspectives from both science education and inclusive pedagogy to support teachers in planning and reflecting inclusive science lessons. Originally created as a workshop resource for the NARST 2023 conference, this self-study manual provides 1) an overview of the theory behind the NinU framework, 2) examples and 3) exercises for acknowledging diversity, recognizing barriers and enabling participation using the framework.