When Intentions Meet Practice: Teacher Conceptions of Culturally Relevant Pedagogy in Middle School Science Classrooms

• In Event: Moscone Center West Roundtable Session 5
  In Roundtable Session: Science Teachers' Dispositions and Discourses: Toward Liberatory Science Classrooms

Abstract

There is a disconnect between the understanding of culturally relevant pedagogy (CRP) and the actual enactment of lessons within classrooms. This research seeks to interrogate teachers’ conceptions of CRP and to demonstrate how teachers’ understanding, or lack thereof, emerges during lesson enactments in middle school science classrooms. The findings discuss how teachers conceptualize CRP and the intersections of their conceptions with the ways they design and use prompts created within an online social learning environment.

Authors

• Elena Contreras Gullickson, University of Minnesota

• Keisha Varma, University of Minnesota