What Does Culturally Relevant STEM Pedagogy Look Like?

• In Event: 44.074 - Inclusive and Culturally Relevant Perspectives on Science Education

Abstract

There has been a surge of interest lately in culturally relevant/responsive/sensitive teaching in science and math. Two quick examples: in his call for papers addressing race for The Physics Teacher, Gary White lists “culturally responsive teaching” as the first topic (White, 2016); one of the two aims of a $4.9 million grant received by The American Association of Colleges and Universities is to “empower STEM faculty to adopt culturally sensitive pedagogies” (AACU). So the question is: What is culturally relevant STEM teaching? How would we even know it if we saw it? In this article, I will argue that Ladson-Billings’ framework for culturally relevant pedagogy (Ladson-Billings, 1994, 1995a, 1995b) is a useful model for university STEM faculty.

Author

• Angela Johnson, Saint Mary's College of Maryland