Moving Beyond Centering Science Content Toward Centering the Child: An Interdisciplinary Approach to Elementary Science Teaching (Poster 10)

• In Event: System-Building for Improving Elementary Science Teaching and Learning: From the Classroom to the Central Office

Abstract

Purpose
While teacher education programs have consistently relied upon standards-aligned curriculum materials for science instruction, this paper illustrates how science teacher educators can prepare elementary teachers to adopt a more holistic, interdisciplinary approach to science instruction that emerges directly from student interests.

Theoretical Framework
Youth Participatory Science (YPS), a framework developed by Morales-Doyle and Frausto (2021), guided the selection of the social justice community-based issue (SJSI) and subsequent design and piloting of a novel science curriculum in an elementary science methods course for pre-service teachers (PSTs). The framework combines Youth Participatory Action Research with citizen, or street science (Corburn, 2005) to select and deeply engage in science learning within a community-based context. A YPS learning cycle consists of several components: define the SJSI, apply a scientific lens, plan and conduct an investigation, analyze data and assess learning, and reflect, disseminate, act. YPS actively centers communities and students who have historically been marginalized through issues rooted in systemic injustices. It acknowledges the cultural capital and knowledge inherent within these communities rather than treating them as separate from the learning, leveraging scientific knowledge for change. In this sense, engaging a YPS framework pushes back on the resource-forward logic that provisioning PSTs with standardized curriculum materials will be sufficient to ensure high-quality equity-focused science instruction.

Modes of Inquiry
Using a case study design, the unit of study was a single semester-long science methods course. The course met weekly for a three-hour meeting for fifteen weeks. Case study was selected for its revelatory nature (Yin, 2009). A total of 19 students enrolled in the course. The central question explored in this study is: How can preservice elementary teachers leverage local community issues to teach interdisciplinary and socially just science?

Data/Analysis
Artifacts gathered throughout the semester included student assignments (e.g., discussion forums, pre-class assignments, post-class reflections, micro-teaching lesson plans, whole-class discussions, and post-semester interviews). Data analysis included content analysis (Schreier, 2014) to reduce data and identify areas of further analysis and cycle coding (Saldaña, 2016) to identify the findings.

Findings
PSTs developed a more nuanced understanding of their local community through teaching science through the YPS framework. This framework allowed teachers to directly center student’s interests and concerns regarding their surroundings while asking more meaningful questions. For example, in the methods class, students explored water quality, as the university recently reported an increase in students suffering from color-changing hair due to the campus water. Through reflecting on their experiences with the YPS cycle, the class identified ways they could incorporate the framework in their science, social studies, literacy, and writing instruction. As such, YPS also provided PSTs with a strategy for making time for science instruction amidst the organizational barriers limiting it.

Significance
Modeling the utility of teaching interdisciplinary science through YPS for elementary teachers allows them to experience agency in being able to allocate more instructional time to science while also promoting student advocacy. While not perfect, it encourages teachers to teach science without fear of limiting time to tested subjects, greatly benefiting students.

Author

• Terrance Burgess, Michigan State University