Youth Working as Floor Facilitators in a Science Center: An Examination of the Dialectical Relationship Between Place, Identity, and Science Learning

• In Event: Reframing Informal Science Education in Light of Diversity, Equity, Democracy, and Critical Science Literacy

Abstract

Objectives
Using a transformative activist stance and place-relevant framework, we demonstrate how youth positioned as floor facilitators in a science center developed science leadership roles both in and out of the institution in ways that allowed them to view power issues embedded in formal schooling, experience success in science, and develop respect for difference and appreciate the multiple perspectives that the general public and their peers bring to science learning experiences.
Perspectives
Viewing place as a site for the performance of an identity (Goffman, 1959) this study examined how the students’ activity as floor facilitators created a particular kind of place for science learning and enactment of a science-related identity. Merging this framework with the transformative activist stance of human development (Stetsenko, 2008) learning is viewed as a pathway to identity development and contributing to the collaborative practices of a community. As students contribute to the practices of the science center community, they create a dialectical relationship between their identities, the place and their learning as all of these are highly interconnected and continuously transforming notions and processes.
Modes of inquiry
A constructivist grounded theory framework (Charmaz, 2005) affords reflexivity in ways of knowing and recognizes that the multiplicity of experiences of stakeholders influence modes of inquiry and interpretation of data. We used this perspective because of our desire to generate theory about the place/identity/learning interactions in informal science institutions with diverse urban youth; the participatory nature of the study; and our own experiences with STEM education. Six youth participated in 10 one-hour cogenerative dialogue meetings over four-months. As the goal of the meetings were to improve the practice of facilitating science learning, the students presented videos of themselves interacting with visitors as sources of discussion during the meetings. They were also videotaped.
Data sources
The videos from the cogen meetings were examined for demonstrated patterns and coded for the kinds of learning and identity development their experiences in the science museum afforded. These codes became the scaffolds on which further analysis were built (Charmaz, 2005). Data in each category were further transcribed, and analyzed in a reiterative manner between the research questions and initial codes.
Results
The key findings from our research revealed that the youth built a collective identity as “science people” through their various interactions the science center. Through their discussions and interactions with the larger group of youth floor staff, they developed local knowledge about science learning; built a set of practices unique to the institution; developed reflexivity in how they and others learn science; and gained agency over their own learning both at the institution and in their schools.
Scholarly significance of the study
This study is significant because it describes a context where youth were able to develop a collective identity and practices as mediators of science learning. Several of the youth participants were self-described as truant students and/or not interested in science, however in this context, they developed and enacted science-related identities that were both positive and that marked them as knowledgeable people.

Authors

• Jennifer Adams, Brooklyn College - CUNY

• Preeti Gupta, American Museum of Natural History