Professional Development Implications for Teachers of Color: Learning from elder Black Women Science Teachers’ (Re)membering

• In Event: Critically Authoring Resistance in Mathematics and Science Education

Abstract

This is a study about silenced curiosity for young Black girls in formal science learning spaces and of the stories of Black women science teachers who overcame that silence outside of schools and retained their science teacher careers. This international, qualitative study centers the (re)flections and pedagogical practices of five ‘elder’ Black women science teachers who have surpassed and live within some of the confines of ‘science as white property’ by looking back to when they were young science-curious Black girls themselves. Implications are also provided for professional development for Black women science teachers and other historically excluded groups, giving them space to (re)flect and to unearth their truth through learning their history and collaborating with peers.

Author

• Alexis Riley, New York University