Beyond Molecular Mastery: Reimagining Chemistry Education for Sustainability Through Knower-Aware Pedagogy

Abstract

Chemistry education has traditionally emphasized conceptual understanding and procedural competence while inadvertently erasing the particularity of both learner and context—a phenomenon we term "knower blindness." This paper argues that chemistry education for sustainability requires explicit attention to the person of the chemist and the contexts in which chemical knowledge is produced and applied. Drawing on critical realism and recent developments in chemistry education research, we present an integrated framework that combines epistemic assessment, systems thinking, and UNESCO's sustainability competencies. We illustrate how current pedagogical approaches often present chemical synthesis as context-neutral and value-free, despite the reality that local constraints and affordances fundamentally shape chemical practice. Using the metaphor of the suspension bridge, we demonstrate that transformative chemistry education requires not only robust disciplinary knowledge and understanding of the nature of chemistry, but also development of evaluative judgment and explicit recognition of the learner as agent. We conclude with a comprehensive self-assessment tool enabling instructors to evaluate whether their courses develop the sustainability competencies essential for preparing ethical, socially responsible chemistry practitioners capable of contributing to global sustainability transitions.