Equitable Science Learning Spaces for Youth Who Have Been Pushed Out

• In Event: Science Teaching and Learning: Equity and Social Justice Roundtable

Abstract

Providing an equitable and critical science education to youth who have been “pushed out” of traditional schools is an issue of social justice. This study investigated the student experience in their class-based science courses at Xinaxtli, an alternative education program for youth who have been “pushed out” in Southern California. A phenomenological research study using semi-structured interviews was conducted. Students identified the Xinaxtli science classrooms as an equitable learning space with these components: educators develop authentic supportive relationships with students, an epistemological pluriverse inclusive of multiple perspectives and values the knowledge students bring to the classroom, the use of culturally relevant science that empowers students to make informed decisions, a localized-critical-action-based curriculum, and a wide array of equitable learning practices.

Author

• Anthony Pena, Claremont Graduate University