An Examination of How "Decolonizing" Physics Curricula Impacts Physics Teacher Identity Toward Equity (Poster 9)

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

Abstract

Objectives. Scholars are trying to better understand how to change curriculum choices and teaching practices to reach a wider number of students within physics education and beyond (Aikenhead & Elliot, 2010). Physics is often considered objective, ahistorical, and independent of social influence (Salzmann et al., 2021). When we re-position physics as historical and tied to a colonialization process, we can move toward equitable practices and positioning through decolonization. However, there are few examples on how to do this work, specifically in physics education (Shahjahan et al., 2022). Our study examines how a community of physics educators, called the Decolonizing Physics Curricular group (DPC) collaborate to decolonize physics curricula. We are seeking to understand how the DPC group 1) views the nature of physics knowledge and how this impacts their work; 2) decides what is (de)colonized and how whiteness operates within physics curricula; 3) develops lessons in ways that are decolonized; and 4) perceives students’ responses to the curricula revisions.

Framework. Decolonization is “a process which engages with imperialism and colonialism at multiple levels” (Smith, 2021, p. 22). Decolonization seeks to disrupt the normal and often invisible knowledge/power relations, questioning whose knowledge is being centered and making room for alternatives while engaging in the work in ways that are relational, self-reflexive, and moving across boundaries of institutions (Shahjahan et al., 2022).

Methods. The DPC group consists of six secondary and two higher education physics educators and two science education researchers from institutions spanning the United States. The group meets online monthly to discuss and create decolonized physics curricula. We approach our research inductively through an ethnographic approach (Blomberg & Burrel, 2009). Members of the DPC group are collaborators in our research, influencing the study’s direction. To understand the decolonization process, we attend, record, observe meetings, write field notes, and conduct unstructured interviews to clarify our understanding. We then use a grounded theory approach (Charmaz, 2014) to iteratively analyze data and arrive at understandings of how the DPC group operates.

Findings and Analysis. We share how members of the DPC group developed a framework for curricula development and the impact of the group’s work on physics teacher identity toward equity. We uplift the challenges and affordances to decolonizing physics curricula, considering political pressures from teacher institutions and how the DPC group makes space for teachers to develop systemic approaches to developing curricula.

Significance. This poster adds to the much-needed research about how groups of teachers and instructors are actively working to decolonize physics curricula and provide an example of how this can occur within colonized spaces. It moves beyond the “equity as access” plateau within the social justice in education movement, to illustrate how practitioners in both K-12 and higher education settings are collaborating to enact real changes to their practices, positionings, and curricula. Our work also contributes to understandings of how decolonizing curricula impacts physics teacher identities.

Authors

• Clausell Mathis, Michigan State University
  Presenting Author

• Michelle N. Brown, Pennsylvania State University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Abigail Daane, Seattle Pacific University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Danny Douchette
  Non-Presenting Author

• Elissa Levy
  Non-Presenting Author

• Angela Flynn
  Non-Presenting Author

• Heather Hotchkiss
  Non-Presenting Author

• Leslie Chamberlain
  Presenting Author

• Katey Shirey
  Non-Presenting Author