Toward a Critical Dialogue About Cultural Relevance in a Science/STEM Classroom

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session 13
  In Roundtable Session: Generating Curriculum Through Cultural Knowledge and Participatory Research (Table 7)

Abstract

There is much research on White teachers’ negative assumptions and biases about their students of color. Less is known about Mexican American teachers. It is often assumed that there exists a strong understanding of culturally relevant science when both teachers and students are of similar cultural backgrounds. Through the conceptual frameworks of culturally relevant pedagogy, critical white studies and Latina/o critical race theory, this investigation informed the ways Mexican American teachers conceptualized culturally relevant science as part of their pedagogy. Through an inductive approach, interviews, lesson observations, and reflective journal data was collected. A finding that emerged was a need for critical dialogue about cultural relevance in science/STEM due to a pedestrian grasp on the tenets of culturally relevant teaching.

Author

• Nora Alicia Luna, University of Texas at Austin