From Within and Without: Young Black Children’s Experiences of Science and School

• In Event: Roundtable Session 13
  In Roundtable Session: Researchers and Teachers Attending to the Lives of Children

Abstract

In this study, I explore young Black children’s perspectives on their experiences of school. Using data from a year-long ethnographic study of an integrated science-literacy curriculum, I analyze their diverse ways of making sense of their experiences focusing on what was central to their experiences and the ways those experiences supported their academic identities. I found that as the children spoke about their school experiences, the important aspects of the experiences came from within and without. From within, the children valued creativity, collaboration, and learning. From the school culture, they learned to attend to achievement and being well behaved. Although the children drew on both, they demonstrated resiliency in believing in their own inner resources and each other.

Author

• Justine M. Kane, Wayne State University