Turning the focus from ‘Other’ to science education: exploring the invisibility of Whiteness

Abstract

This paper provides another way to gaze upon Brad's story as presented by van Eijck and Roth (2010). It raises questions about infrastructural racism in contemporary science education by exploring its association with Whiteness and White privilege. To explore the racial positioning inherent in Western science education specific attention is given to the positions of power that accompany Western ways of knowing the world (i.e., science education) in comparison to Other ways of knowing the world (i.e., First Nations Ways of Knowing). The paper suggests the power relationships inherent within this dualism are asymmetrical due to the implications of Whiteness within colonial societies. Even though power relations were not discussed in Brad's story, the paper suggests the implications were visible. The paper concludes by advocating for a re-imagining in science education where the traditional ontological and epistemological foundations are deconstructed and spaces are created for enacting practical ways of resisting oppression.

Science capital or STEM capital? Exploring relationships between science capital and technology, engineering, and maths aspirations and attitudes among young people aged 17/18

“…Studies have drawn attention to how issues of gender (notably the alignment of STEM fields with masculinity) play a key role in deterring girls and young women from continuing with the mathematics (Mendick, , ), science (Archer & DeWitt, ), engineering (Connell, ; Du, ; Tonso, ) and technology (Kemp & Wong, 2018; Wong, ). Similar arguments have also been made with respect to the perceived “whiteness” of the respective disciplines (Bullock, ; Sammel, ). Yet there are still gaps in understanding about how and why some students from communities that have been historically excluded from STEM (such as women) do aspire to and participate in STEM, while the majority do not.…”

Unsettling Metaphysics in Science Education

“…Yet, working towards unsettling science education is a task that is already trouble(d) from its very beginning (see Higgins, 2014;McKinley & Stewart, 2012;Sammel, 2009). 16 Notions and enactments of decolonizing are often already overcoded by the colonial logics that we attempt to work within, against, and beyond.…”

“…Within science education, this call has been primarily taken up by extending the openings produced through treating both science (e.g., Haraway, 1989;Latour, 1993;Traweek, 1992; see also Shapin & Schaffer, 1985) and science education (e.g., Nadeau & Désautels, 1984;O'Loughlin, 1992;Pomeroy, 1994) 28 as problematic cultural spaces to be examined through sociological, anthropological, and cultural studies approaches. In particular, a two-pronged approach to decolonizing science education 29 focuses primarily on addressing the ways in which Eurocentrism (re)produces science education as a space of cognitive and cultural imperialism (Aikenhead, 2001(Aikenhead, , 2006cMcKinley, 2001McKinley, , 2007Sammel, 2009) in order to make space for learning that is epistemologically diverse and pedagogically pluralistic (i.e., which recognizes that there are diverse pathways to learning about and with Nature; Aikenhead, 2006a, Barnhardt & Kawagley, 2005McKinley, 2007;Sammel, 2009). In Canada, there have been some successes in this area.…”

“…However, given the capillary pervasiveness of Eurocentrism and its coconstitutive mechanisms (e.g., (neo-)colonialism), decolonizing science education is not simply a process of desiring it to be decolonized. Rather, it is (over-)written in a contradictory, conflicted, and contingent space in which the very processes and practices that explicitly seek to dismantle colonial logics often implicitly uphold and reinforce that which they seek to challenge (Carter, 2004(Carter, , 2005(Carter, , 2010Higgins, 2014;McKinley, 2001;McKinley & Stewart, 2012;Sammel, 2009). On this, Carter (2004) states:…”

Interdisciplinary Practice: Dialogue as Action to Resist Colonialism in Higher Education

“…These relationships lead to problematic Science classrooms where realities of privilege, power and knowledge play out in terms of what knowledge is taught and valued (those that favour dominant and economic agendas), the purpose of Science Education (based around profitability rather than social or environmental justice) and how Science is taught (the assimilation of one knowledge base over others) (Sammel, 2009). My involvement with these relationships has been to deconstruct how the social practice of Science Education is organized, and to analyze the economic, cultural, social and political forces that influence it.…”