Historically Relevant Science Pedagogy: Learning From Black Women Science Teachers and Their Antiracist Teaching

• In Event: Black Women Science Teachers, Our Pedagogy, and Our Experiences

Abstract

Purpose and Significance
Marginalized communities cannot and do not have decontextualized experiences. This is evident in how socio-scientific issues-- such as exposure to COVID-19 as frontline, essential workers, high Black infant mortality rates, air pollution leading to respiratory problems, living in food deserts, and other issues-- affect their communities. Thus, students from communities with low resources cannot have a decontextualized, ahistorical science curriculum. Unfortunately, many K-12 teachers and teacher educators have not been prepared for the diversity found in K-12 classrooms resulting in a science curriculum that only maintains the white, status quo. After the political uprisings of summer 2020, the education community, including science educators, have been grappling with how to meet the call for “anti-racist/liberatory” practices and curriculum for all students, but especially for students of color.

For this study, “anti-racist practices” is used as an umbrella term for the following culture-based frameworks: liberatory pedagogy (hooks, 1994/2014), culturally relevant pedagogy (Ladson-Billings, 1994), and historically relevant literacy (Muhammad, 2020). Science teachers frequently misperceive anti-racist frameworks such as “culturally relevant teaching to be appropriate for language arts, social studies, and fine arts, but not for the so-called 'hard sciences'" (Boutte, Kelly-Jackson & Johnson, 2010, p. 2).

By understanding the expertise and passion that Black women teachers have historically brought to their practice, it is important to learn how they have shifted their classroom and curricular practices to be anti-racist in the science classroom. The research question for this study was: How do Black women science teachers talk about the implementation of anti-racist practices through their science teaching?

Methods and Conclusion
In this study, three different virtual focus groups, or call sista circles, were conducted with a total of 18 Black women secondary science teachers. These sista circles had a wide range of experiences, ranging from 1 to 22 years of experience across the country and including international participants in Canada and Qatar. Three themes came out of the data analysis process: (a) Using NGSS standards within the context of the community. (b) Teaching at the intersection of history, culture, and science education, and (c) Building critical consciousness in the science classroom. These three themes are the tenets of an anti-racist teaching framework called ‘historically relevant science pedagogy.’

Historically relevant science pedagogy aligns with culturally relevant pedagogy, liberatory pedagogy, and historically responsive literacy within the context of science teaching and learning. As a result of this study, we learn that Black women science teachers shift their curriculum to live within the intersection of history, culture, and science education. With or without school support, Black women science teachers find ways to bring their full selves to the classroom by learning about their students and their communities, building relationships with students, and tailoring their curriculum to the racialized and political realities of their students. The power and necessity of Black teachers are paramount in science classrooms specifically because of the neutral, apolitical ways science teaching has been approached in the past.

Author

• Alexis Riley, New York University - Steinhardt
  Presenting Author