Let Black Girls Lead: Self-Guided STEAM in Communities and Beyond

• In Event: Let Girls Lead: Girls as Critical Thinkers, Designers, and STEAM Researchers

Abstract

This participatory action research project focused on implementing STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art and design, and mathematics)learning experiences with a Multi-Level Girl Scout Troop made up of 23 Black girls in grades K-5 and 3 Black female Scout leaders , exploring the parameters that need to be in place in order to engage Black girls in grades K-5 in creating and engaging in their own STEAM learning activities outside of school, how community stakeholders can support the engagement of Black girls in grades K-5 in STEAM activities in community based organizations, and how the engagement in STEAM activities outside of school affects Black girls in grades K-5 self-perception of their abilities to be good STEM students in school.
Schutz (2006) argues that community-school partnerships have the capacity to not only positively affect student achievement but also to alter schools’ understanding of “their role in promoting a more equal and democratic society” (p.693). Schutz (2006) argues that people of color with limited economic resources generally achieve empowerment as a collective entity rather than as individuals. Therefore, anytime they can join together for activism or organizing, positive shifts of perspectives and action can occur. Radford-Hill (2000) argues, “Genuine empowerment is a process not an event…Its goal is to define individual and group self-interests in the broader context of social justice” (p. 12). Radford-Hill (2000) advocates for making empowerment a primary goal of any work that involves Black communities, especially communities of Black women, because it affirms the direct connection between theorizing and social action.
Data sources for this participatory action research project include transcriptions from interviews, participant observation notes, documents and photos from the troop meetings and STEAM field trips, Scout’s reflection journals, and surveys of Scouts, Scout Leaders, parents and community participants collected between August 2014-June 2015. Its focus on collaborative research methods and co-ownership of research process and results builds on the theme of collaborative empowerment Radford-Hill emphasizes.
Results indicate first, the girls utilized Girl Scout troop meetings as an opportunity to express an interest in learning more about STEAM activities, careers, and professionals. Second, girls were able to plan their own curriculum, identify the types of activities they wanted to engage in, and give feedback based on their experiences when intentional structures were put in place to support girl leadership. Third, community members with various STEAM backgrounds and experiences were able to build meaningful partnerships with the Girl Scout Troop and have a measurable impact on not only the girls’ perceptions of STEAM activities and careers, but their actual engagement in STEAM activities.Finally, survey data suggests girls’ perception of their science, mathematics, and sketching abilities, Leaders’ ability to integrate STEAM activities in the scouting program, and girls’ belief that their interests and performance in science and mathematics courses in school improved as a result of the STEAM focus in Scouting.
This paper is significant because Black girlhood is under theorized in the education field and methodologically I combined the analytical concerns of a professional educator with the political and social concerns of parents and community members.

Author

• Tamyka Morant, University of Maryland