Hydraulic fracturing (‘fracking’), like other complex social and environmental issues, is a controversy about science which raises educational questions about how best to prepare young people to understand, respond to and, where necessary, act (or not) in response. It raises political questions. We present a state-of-the-art review of research literature on fracking and education using systematic strategies, with a view to finding out how it is framed in educational situations and how politics enters the science classroom. This serves as an illustrative case of how contested scientific and technological interventions with implications for the environment and society are treated in school science. The review is supplemented by interviews with 10 teachers of science and engineering working in schools or colleges near sites of operational exploratory fracking. We find that the research literature on teaching hydraulic fracturing is sparse, with only 25 studies relating to teaching and learning about fracking. Few studies (n = 7) relate to high school education. Where it features in science education, fracking is used as a context for interdisciplinarity and critical thinking, and lends itself to approaches using discussion, dialogue and modelling. Outcomes from fracking education range include knowledge gains and critical thinking. Teachers interviewed tended not to see a place for fracking in the curriculum or in the classroom and were averse to including politics in upper high school science education. Our analysis suggests depoliticization through absence of this specific complex environmental issue from the public (education) sphere, reinforced by the desire for ‘balance’ in high school science education and instrumental approaches to science education which prioritize assessed learning outcomes. Dealing with complex social and environmental issues such as hydraulic fracturing in the years of compulsory science schooling is necessary because scientific knowledge is necessary but not sufficient to prepare young people for the critical scientific literacy required to meet sustainable development goals. There is a need to assess and respond to the educational needs of local communities affected by industrial interventions such as fracking. These findings are likely to be relatable to other issues where there are local and global consequences of action or inaction and where the environment and health are pitted against economic and energy demands.

像其他复杂的社会和环境问题一样，水力压裂（“压裂”）是一门关于科学的争议，这引发了有关如何使年轻人最有效地理解，应对以及在必要时采取（或不采取）应对措施的教育性问题。它提出了政治问题。我们使用系统的策略，对压裂和教育的研究文献进行了最新的回顾，以期弄清在教育环境中它是如何构成的以及政治如何进入科学课堂。这是在学校科学中如何处理对环境和社会有影响的有争议的科学技术干预的说明性案例。审查的补充是对在勘探压裂作业现场附近的学校或学院工作的10位科学和工程学教师的采访。我们发现，有关水力压裂教学的研究文献很少，只有25篇有关水力压裂教学的研究。很少研究（ñ = 7）与高中教育有关。在科学教育中，压裂法被用作跨学科和批判性思维的背景，并适合于使用讨论，对话和建模的方法。分水岭的教育范围所产生的结果包括知识获取和批判性思维。受访的教师倾向于在课程或教室中看不到任何紧张的地方，并且不愿将政治纳入高中科学教育中。我们的分析表明，由于缺乏公共（教育）领域的这一特定复杂环境问题，去政治化，而高中科学教育中对“平衡”的渴望和优先考虑评估学习成果的科学教育手段方法则进一步加剧了这种政治化。在义务教育阶段，必须处理诸如水力压裂之类的复杂社会和环境问题，因为科学知识是必要的，但不足以使年轻人为实现可持续发展目标所需的关键科学素养做准备。有必要评估和回应受水力压裂等工业干预影响的当地社区的教育需求。这些发现可能与其他问题有关，在这些问题中，行动或不作为在局部和全球都会造成后果，环境和健康与经济和能源需求背道而驰。