Negotiating White science in a racially and ethnically diverse United States

Abstract

Scholars have empirically examined, rigorously developed, and analyzed various strategies to increase teachers' capacity to reach students of color. These instructional strategies and philosophies include the study of multicultural education, teaching for social justice, and theorizing the connection between school and home life. While these instructional strategies highlight the need for a more inclusive approach, they do not center race enough. Culturally Relevant Pedagogy (CRP) is the pedagogical, content, and cultural knowledge a teacher exhibits (Ladson-Billings, 1995). CRP does not explicitly problematize race; yet the theory and praxis of CRP should include a critical analysis of race and racism. As an alternative framework that centers on race, researchers have begun to use Critical Race Theory (CRT) to explore aspects of race and racism in the teaching and learning realm. This qualitative case study examined how teachers make sense of their own racial selves in relation to teaching students from different racial backgrounds? (Yin, 2008). Data collection included semi-structured interviews as the primary source of data. Classroom observations and researcher memos served as secondary sources of data (Seidman, 2005;Hatch, 2002; Prior, 2003). According to critical race theorists, narratives are essential when gathering vital sources of information, in that they make the social realities of people of color, as influenced by racism, observable to the world ). As such, CRT was used to identify whether there were any influences of the students' racial identities on the teachers' development and implementation of culturally responsive practices. The analysis revealed that: (1) teachers' explicit confrontation with/of "otherness" as White female teachers and their critical awareness of societal influences on students of color presented more opportunities to be race-conscious and directly address institutional racism; and (2) teachers' critical awareness of explicit and implicit power structures and how these relationships are embedded in a "hidden curriculum" influenced their beliefs and instructional practices. These findings communicate the significance of White female teachers understanding of issues specific to urban schools, and their efforts to find ways to remedy those issues to make learning meaningful, purposeful, and authentic for students of color.

Culturally relevant pedagogies in science education as a response to global migration

“…CRP in diverse classrooms undermines the notion that science belongs to a dominant group of white upper-class males (Dunac and Demir 2017). Culturally relevant teaching in science can bring together mainstream and other ways of knowing.…”

“…Science classrooms include Western worldviews as the only way of knowing (Boute et al 2010). Science content reflects only the dominant voice (Dunac and Demir 2017) no matter its (ir)relevance to the students' culture. Students whose cultural ways of knowing differ from Western scientific ways of knowing may face great challenges in learning science (Aronson and Laughter 2016).…”

Culturally Responsive Pedagogical Knowledge: An Integrative Teacher Knowledge Base for Diversified STEM Classrooms

“…For example, in his seminal work, Shulman [1,23] noted that teachers must have expert knowledge of the content that they teach, which positions them for effectiveness. However, Dunac and Demir [24] surmised that classrooms are not just a place where students learn content but a formation zone to develop their identities [cultural or otherwise] as science [STEM] community members. Additionally, STEM education, like many content areas, is fraught with Eurocentric ideologies, which perpetuate teachers' deficit mindsets and stereotype the capabilities of non-white students.…”

“Things your history teacher won't teach you: Science edition”: Black women science teachers as anti‐racist teachers

“…In the last decade, CRP has been explicitly theorized in science education (Mensah, 2011; Mensah & Jackson, 2018; Mensah et al, 2018; Underwood & Mensah, 2018), with a few who prioritize sociopolitical consciousness of both the science teacher and the science student and its influence on the science curriculum (Madkins & McKinney de Royston, 2019; Mensah, 2011; 2022; Mutegi, 2011). Sociopolitical consciousness is especially important in science education, “if we seek to change the historical hegemonic experiences of students of color” because as science teachers, “we need to address issues of race relations as they relate to science, society, and classroom” (Dunac & Demir, 2016, p. 38).…”

“…Hooks (1994) noted, “for Black teaching—educating—was fundamentally political because it was rooted in antiracist struggle” (p. 2). Anti‐racist practices within culture‐based frameworks of science teaching are imperative for the growing population of diverse students since “un/knowingly, teachers perpetuate the misconception that science is hard for students who are non‐white and/or who may not succeed on standardized examinations” (Dunac & Demir, 2016, p. 32). While researchers and activists have repeatedly argued for science education reform, their argument typically falls on deaf ears because science is treated as culture‐free and objective (Karin et al, 2021).…”