Black Women Science Teachers Strive Toward Self-Definition Through a Draw a Science Teacher Activity

• In Event: Networked Justice: Identity, Community, & Radical Possibility in Teacher Professional Learning

Abstract

As an alternative to traditional professional development, six in-service Black women science teachers came together to be in affinity in a space called The Sista Circle Lab. In the current study, the purpose of having participants engage in a mix between the Draw a Science Teacher and Draw a Scientist activity was to confront internalized stereotypes by building a visual that encompassed their view of an affirmed Black women science teacher, especially after learning about a historical figure such as Sarah Mapps Douglass. Positionality Theory and Self-Definition as discussed in Black Feminist Theory come together to make sense of how the participants visualize and discuss the development of their affirming science teacher identity.

Author

• Alexis Riley, New York University