Reimagining Urban STEM Education: Cities as Sponsors and Spaces for Learning and Engagement

• In Event: Defining, Conceptualizing, and Reimagining Urban STEM Education

Abstract

Purpose: Building on prior (e.g. Walker, 2012; Walker, 2014) and current (Wells & Walker, 2018; Walker & Wilson, 2020) research, the purpose of this paper is to conceptualize urban STEM education and its possibilities, by examining the role of cities as sponsors (Brandt, 1998) and often underused sites for powerful STEM learning and engagement.

Theoretical Perspective: I draw from multiple interdisciplinary frameworks for this paper. First, theories of social and cultural geographies (e.g. Lefebvre, 1974; Soja, 1989) support our shared understandings of place, rooted within historical and cultural contexts, as sites for STEM engagement (Spelman College’s success in preparing STEM graduates is one example). I argue that mathematical, or STEM, spaces (Walker, 2014) are sites that can support STEM development, incubate STEM talent, and disseminate effective practices beyond physical institutions and across generations. Within these spaces, I repurpose Brandt’s (1998) notion of ‘sponsors of literacy’ to articulate what ‘sponsors of mathematics/STEM’ could and should look like (Walker, 2016) and to argue that cities themselves (and agents within them) can serve as STEM sponsors.

Methods and Data Sources: This conceptual paper is primarily a historical and qualitative inquiry, drawing on multiple sources of data. We explore historical accounts of STEM work in American cities, focusing on work conducted by the marginalized and overlooked. We review works that discuss urban education broadly (e.g. Green, 1967; Orfield & Ashkinaze, 1991; Pattillo, 1999) and schools in cities (e.g. Stewart, 2013; Lawrence Lightfoot, 1983) for examples of STEM communities and spaces. In addition, we draw from prior research on STEM learning where urbanicity was a key feature (e.g. Tate, 2008), interviews from prior studies (Walker, 2014), and current work with urban public schools and students (Wells & Walker, 2018) to explore explicit linkages between city life and work and STEM learning, engagement, and development.

Results and/or Substantiated Conclusions: We note the importance of cities as sites for mobility and migration (e.g. slavery, immigration, and the Great Migration of African Americans) and how these patterns influence knowledge transfer, production, and innovation. A relevant example is the science work (and communication) of Onesimus, an enslaved person whose knowledge of smallpox infection prevention from his African country influenced the development of an inoculation program in 1700s Boston and beyond (e.g. Brown, 1988). We examine urban regions (Morris, 2004) as noteworthy for strong and enduring STEM communities among Black and Brown people (e.g. NASA/VA/DC). We note longstanding scientific public institutions (e.g. science museums) and nascent work by cultural institutions (e.g. art museums, libraries) and agents to craft new and use existing urban spaces to support STEM learning. Finally, we share findings and propose directions for explicitly linking K-12 students’ lived city experiences to their in-school STEM learning.

Significance: This work can inform our making STEM learning experiences in and through cities as diverse, rewarding, engaging, transformative, and common-place as we do experiences related to multiple forms of literacy. How we build on these possibilities for strong STEM learning communities is important for a more informed, democratic, and equitable society.

Author

• Erica Walker, University of Toronto - OISE
  Presenting Author