Working the Crevices: Granting Students Authority in Authoritarian Schools

A no-conflict approach to informal science education increases community science literacy and engagement

“…Due to the complex social, cultural, and political tensions in the United States around the topics of climate change and evolution, and their deep involvement with identity issues, the approach used to communicate information on these subjects is crucial to successful outreach and education. Many people feel alienated or excluded from science in general [Bandura, 2006;Goodman et al, 2011;Hodson, 1999;Rossatto, 2007;Diaz-Rico and Weed, 2002;Duran, Dugan and Weffer, 1998;Hildebrand, 2001;Tobin and McRobbie, 1996;Lee, 1997;Lee and Fradd, 1996;Rakow and Bermudez, 1993;Rosenthal, 1993]. In designing our outreach approach, we drew on a body of research that applies a sociocultural and linguistic framework to create inclusive science learning environments [Richter, 2011;Schoerning, 2012;Schoerning and Hand, 2013;Schoerning, 2013;Schoerning et al, 2015].…”

Language, Access, and Power in the Elementary Science Classroom

“…In traditional science classrooms, students do not possess power, while teachers do so unambiguously. Power here is seen both as authority, in that the teacher has the ability to direct the actions of others in the classroom, and as ability, in that the teacher maintains, distributes, and evaluates knowledge (Goodman, Hoadland, Pierre‐Toussaint, Rodriguez, & Sanabria, ). Power as described here is not strictly dichotomous, being necessarily lost by one group as it is gained by another, but as something that arises and circulates within populations in the Foucauldian sense, as described in Lewis, Enciso, and Moje ().…”

“…Many of the difficulties faced by nonmainstream students are centered in language. The language of science is often seen by these students as exclusive and exclusionary (Goodman et al, ; Hodson, ; Rossato, ). Science is seen as something that belongs to the mainstream, not to these students’ communities (Diaz‐Rico & Weed, ; Duran, ; Hildebrand, ; Tobin & McRobbie, ).…”