Understanding the Challenges Teachers Face When Integrating Social Justice Into Science Curricula

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session 10
  In Roundtable Session: Empathy, Relationality, and Justice in Teaching and Learning

Abstract

With increased attention to racial inequity in the United States, science teachers are motivated to address issues of racism and social justice in their science classrooms and need support to do so. This work examines the perspectives and experiences of teachers who joined a research practice partnership that aims to design and teach curricula that positions science as a lens to understand and address issues of social justice. We conducted a workshop to refine curricula and support teachers in prior to teaching. We report on teachers' concerns about implementing the co-designed curricula and illustrate how these concerns manifested during their teaching. Our findings suggest areas of support needed by science teachers who seek to integrate social justice into their teaching.

Authors

• Allison Bradford, University of California - Berkeley

• Libby F. Gerard, University of California - Berkeley