(W)Holistic Science Pedagogy: A Multidimensional Commitment to Just, Science Instruction

• In Event: Science Teaching and Learning Toward Collaborative Social Transformation and Justice

Abstract

Theoretical framework: As the scientific and technological divide widens, access to quality science instruction has become a civil rights issue (Tate, 2001): those equipped with the knowledge and skill will remain caretakers of status and power. For many students the classroom represents their earliest formal experience with both the content and process of science, placing science teachers in a unique and precarious position: getting students excited and engaged about science while simultaneously preparing the next generation of STEM professionals. We offer a model we call (W)holistic Science Pedagogy (WSP). It is both a teacher- and student-centered approach of instruction to disrupt these gaps in engagement. The WSP approach requires five commitments from the teacher: A commitment to (1) an ever-developing self-awareness, (2) science and its practices, (3) science as a transformative agent, (4) their students’ social-emotional wellness, and (5) restorative practices.

Objectives: Our objective is to understand how one veteran science teacher approaches teaching and how her instructional decisions influence students’ engagement with science as a meaningful tool to understand the world around them. Specifically, the researchers explore how the WSP is enacted by this teacher.

Modes of Inquiry & Data: This case study took place in a southern California K-8 school that serves underrepresented students. Our participant is a Black woman and 20 year veteran teacher who has a doctorate in science education and received training in trauma-informed instruction and restorative justice.
Data was collected during a week-long lesson that focused on chemical reactions and used the case of lead poisoning in Flint as an example of “chemistry in the world around us.” The data included six classroom videos from two class periods, a post interview with the teacher, and the work students produced from the lesson. We use an inductive to deductive approach to code and analyze the data. We use the WSP framework for deductive coding purposes while using an inductive approach to understand this teacher’s interpretation of teaching for justice.

Findings & Conclusions: The findings reveal that when using the WSP, this science teacher used strategies and tools to develop students’ content knowledge grounded in a critical awareness of the structures and institutions that have created and maintained the oppressive hierarchies in society. Findings highlight how the embodiment of WSP can cultivate a culture and learning environment that integrates rigorous science content, critical awareness and social justice through the written and enacted curriculum. WSP provides a critical framework that encourages scholars and educators to think about the intersection of science and social justice in student learning.

Scholarly Significance: There is a pernicious and persistent gap in STEM participation. Questions endure within science education about who feels that science is a part of their identity, who engages in science, and whether or not science is a meaningful tool for everyone (Carlone, Haun-Frank, Webb, 2011). As such, our proposed study aims to explore the role of classroom instruction in disrupting these gaps by providing a model for teaching science in culturally relevant ways.

Authors

• Alexis Patterson Williams, University of California - Davis

• Valeria Romero, University of California - Davis

• Salina Gray, Inglewood Unified School District