Using a Vexation and Venture Protocol to Support Chemistry Teachers' Social Justice Praxis (Poster 7)

• In Event: Attending to the Crevasse Between Equity- and Content-Oriented Goals in Science Teaching and Learning

Abstract

Objectives. Despite some recent efforts to the contrary (e.g. Sanford, 2020), the discourse about chemistry within the field overwhelmingly draws on objectivity, modernism, and scientism (Sjöström, 2007). As a result, it can be difficult for teachers, most of whom were not taught chemistry through a social justice perspective, to design instructional tasks that tie abstract chemical concepts to relevant issues of injustice. This study investigated a professional learning community (PLC) that sought to create an intentional space for social justice chemistry teachers to theorize, enact, and reflect. In this poster, I investigate how the use of a vexation and venture protocol (Settlage & Johnston, 2014) served to support chemistry teachers’ development of a disciplinary social justice praxis.

Perspectives. Theory and practice intertwine to form a reciprocal praxis (Freire, 2000) by which educators act on their ideas and reflect on their actions to refine their ideas. For many teachers, their theoretical understandings of social justice arise directly from their own lived experiences (hooks, 1994). In order to engage in social justice science teaching within a specific context, educators need to have reflective knowledge of their own personal experiences as well as knowledge of their students’ lives and cultures (Goodwin & Darity, 2019; Patterson & Gray, 2017).

Data Sources and Methods. Data were collected over the course of a year-long professional learning community that met every six weeks via Zoom. The group consisted of five secondary chemistry teachers from a diverse set of schools and geographic locations, with a shared interest in applying social justice ideals to their teaching. Each meeting followed a vexation and venture structure in which one teacher shared a vexing challenge and potential ways forward, then listened while the rest of the group discussed the challenge. Data included recordings of each meeting, interviews with participants, and post-meeting surveys. These data were analyzed using an inductive coding process to identify key features of the meeting protocol that supported teachers’ development.

Results. The analysis identified three key effects of the vexation and venture protocol that supported the development of a disciplinary social justice praxis. The structured speaking turns served to minimize existing hierarchies during the discussions, allowing both new and veteran teachers the opportunity to contribute to developing solutions. During the meetings, teachers worked together with minimal facilitation to solve problems of practice, providing an environment in which teachers’ expertise was valued. Teachers were able to contribute scientific, pedagogical, and social justice knowledge to the discussions. Finally, the focus on a venture—an active next step—enabled teachers to engage in shared imagining of what teaching chemistry for social justice could entail.

Significance. This analysis demonstrates the potential of a vexation-driven PLC as a form of professional learning around disciplinary social justice teaching. The structured conversations within the PLC and reflections by participants showed that the interpretations and applications of social justice within a chemistry education context were supported by the specific features of the meeting protocol.

Author

• Kathryn Ribay, San Jose State University
  Presenting Author