Deconstructing Instructional Vision: A Conceptual Staging Post En Route to Liberatory Science Education

• In Event: Culturally Relevant and Equity-Minded Approaches to Science Teaching and Learning

Abstract

Approaches to learning which centre equity and challenge racist and colonialist hierarchies of power in schools are increasingly prominent in academic discourse. This study examines the ways in which these ideas are being appropriated and leveraged by district science leaders as they shape elementary science instruction across their districts. Using Herrenkohl et al.’s (in press) tenets of social constructivism, this study draws on 28 interviews with district science coordinators across six states to identify variation in how leaders have appropriated, and have articulated, ideas about students’ learning in their visions for ideal science instruction. Furthermore, this research provides a novel test of this framework for deconstructing instructional vision.

Author

• Emily Seeber, University of Michigan - Ann Arbor