BEETLES/BaySci Open Conference
- Amy Compare
- Jul 29, 2020
- 6 min read
Resources: BEETLES/BaySci Open Conference
Yesterday, I found out last-minute about an open conference hosted by BEETLES and BaySci focusing on Environmental Education (EE) in the time of COVID-19. It was held via zoom, and the sessions were collaborative and enriching. I was able to jump into two sessions: “Incorporating Environmental, Economic, and Racial Justice with NGSS Standards in a Digital Environment” and “Four Family Engagement Paradigm Shifts Critical to Transformative and Equitable Science Education.” Most of the sessions were spent in discussion with educators from all different backgrounds sharing ideas rather than lectures or presentations. Here is a summary/reflection of significant things that were discussed:
“Incorporating Environmental, Economic, and Racial Justice with NGSS Standards in a Digital Environment”
We talked about providing students with opportunities to learn about environmental injustice/inequities organically rather than giving them information or just preaching at them. This can be done by embedding data in lessons (for example, information about demographics and environmental issues, like air quality or toxic waste sites) to recognize trends on their own. While this is in line with how I teach (primarily science phenomena) as an experiential educator, I had not considered how to provide experiences for students around environmental justice (or any type of social justice). I have been thinking recently about how to bring environmental justice into residential environmental education (and if that is the appropriate space for it - I feel like it should be, but also one major goal of residential EE organizations I have worked for is to give students positive experiences outside - you’ve got to care about something before you can save it - and I wonder about how to balance this goal with environmental justice. It’s a big topic for perhaps another blog post), and the idea of providing organic learning experiences for students by presenting data for students to analyze is something I really like. I feel like it’s an easy way to allow students to construct their own knowledge about phenomena and think critically about what it means without me advocating for a point of view. As someone said, student discovery before advocacy.
We also talked about increasing equity by focusing on students’ own place, reframing what we think of as environmental science (it’s not just scientists collecting data using fancy instruments - we should “nurture noticing” - in quotes because someone said this phrase and I really liked it!), affirming that whatever relationship students have with nature is alright (because we all have relationships with nature whether we are aware of it or not), and acknowledging that whatever is around students in their place is worth of attention and that it is not minimized by who you are or where you live (for example, a dandelion in a sidewalk crack is just as amazing as a 1000 year old redwood tree) - these ideas were spoken of in light of remote learning, but it is important in residential EE programs as well as we have a responsibility to try to connect students’ experiences in our programs to their home communities. We talked about providing students with case studies and project-based learning focused on solutions (something I am excited to be diving into through programs I am designing for IslandWood). We can also start with stories (yes!), and especially ones that highlight diverse environmental advocates. In terms of bringing equity/justice into lessons/program based on NGSS standards, someone brought up that the best place to focus on equity/social justice is in the NGSS’s Crosscutting Concepts (ideas that transcend all science topics, like systems, cause and effect, matter and energy) and Practices (what scientists do across all sciences, like asking questions, developing models, and analyzing data) rather than in DCI’s - Disciplinary Core Ideas, or the content of science). I thought this was insightful, and shifted my mindset, as I had been thinking primarily about DCI’s when thinking about integrating equity into science. In reflection on it, I think the Practices are where teachers are best able to bring equity into their classrooms through their instructional methods, as the Practices are actions that can be influenced by culture (students’ culture influences their sense-making in science [see link to other blog post]). I also think the Crosscutting Concepts are also influenced by culture - like patterns and systems can look different in Western and Indigenous sciences - and educators can attend to equity in the perspectives they choose to highlight in their classroom.
“Four Family Engagement Paradigm Shifts Critical to Transformative and Equitable Science Education”
In this session, we discussed transformative science education focusing on family engagement. Although this was focused on science education in schools where teachers are able to build long relationships with their students as well as their families (something I am not able to do as an Environmental Educator whose students come from all over), I thought it was an important one for me to be in and think about, especially as I could be involved in informal science education that partners more with schools or specific communities in the future. We were presented with four family engagement paradigms that included: 1) Shifting from assimilation/acculturation (focuses on western-centric knowledge) to one that centers family engagement practices and promotes diversity/multiple perspectives, 2) Shifting from Deficit Family Engagement Perspectives to Towards Dignified Family Engagement Perspective, 3) From Transactional Family Engagement Relationships Towards Transformational Family Engagement Relationships, and 4) From Institutional Compliance Family Engagement Paradigms to Towards Culturally Thriving Family Engagement Paradigms.
We discussed ways in we can cultivate learning environments that value the contributions, experiences, and learning practices of families with different cultural backgrounds, including: working to make sure all of language is actually inclusive, not exclusive ( EE has been white-led, and western-focused), initiating parent panels/surveys to learn the needs of those who have the least access, being aware of our own biases in our language (thinking specifically how Black students having to code switch in school, and not forcing them to do that), bring students’ cultural practices into science education, reviewing implicit biases by responding to students based on a sense-making stance rather than a behavior stance as sense-making is influenced by culture, incorporating storytelling and games into science education, providing students with different avenues to share, and when students are providing explanation for what they’re learning in science, let them use their cultural experiences to explain.
We discussed involving families in content by identifying underrepresented groups, and asking what they want to be taught, learning how cultures view science topic, offering opportunities for engagement, but recognize that not everyone will be able to (making it an option), compensating community when they participate, and making partnerships with people who are already served by what they’re doing.
We discussed learning in collaborative places. An example of this was prompting families to take “wonder walks” around their neighborhood (which can be done in multiple generations - Students can investigate their socio-ecological system through the lens of a grandparent or sibling, for example). Project based learning is a way to engage students in science and a way to promote considering multiple perspectives by questions that start with “Should we…?” (for example, “Should we plant a pollinator garden?” or “Should we recycle?”) which contains an ethical component that requires students to discuss and listen to different perspectives. We can also broaden our definition of science to go beyond lab work/field work and focus on it as a way of asking and answering questions.
Some ideas that I thought were beautiful and meaningful that people presented included: the idea that nature is a human right, that everybody values nature (whether they express it in a explicit way or not because everything we use comes from nature and those are inherent values that we all have), but that there are barriers and lack of accessibility that prevent people from connecting or being in relation with nature. This is an idea I have been thinking about since the webinars I attended on reclaiming relationships with nature and in starting to re-read Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer (one of my favorite books!). Also the idea that teaching should include how to protect a culture and the natural space that allows that culture to be rich and beautiful. I thought the educator who presented that idea did it so eloquently, and it made me think more about how to tie in culture to environmental education (because we all rely on nature in whatever cultures we embody, and everyone’s ancestors at some point had rich relations to the land).
Overall, my short time in these sessions gave me a lot of hope to be in a space with many other EE/STEM educators who care so deeply about our students and transforming the field of EE to be more equitable and inclusive. I also was exposed to ideas that make me think about my own teaching practice and organizational practices, and I feel grateful to have that prompted by experience in community.
Resources that were shared during these sessions:
Culturally Responsive Teaching & The Brain by Zaretta Hammond
What’s Good in My Hood by Akima Price
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