Toward More Equitable Learning in Science

Resource: National Science Teachers Association’s (NSTA) Helping Students Make Sense of the World Using Next Generation Science and Engineering Practices - Chapter 3: Toward More Equitable Learning in Science: http://static.nsta.org/pdfs/NSTAPress_TowardMoreEquitableLearningInSciencePB351X.pdf

This article was shared with me by Dr. Déana Scipio, Director of IslandWood’s Campus Education Programs, through work. I spent some time reading it today and reflecting on my role in providing equitable science learning in environmental/outdoor education.

This article presents 3 principles to “expand meaningful opportunities to learn in science” and make science teaching more equitable followed by several vignettes and examples with commentary to show how each of the principles have been practiced in real situations. I thought those were the best part of this article to put the principles in context, and I would encourage anyone interested to read the whole article for this reason.

The 3 principles covered in the article are:

1. Notice sense-making repertoires. In other words, students will try to make sense of science phenomena in diverse ways that are driven by culture and may be different from how you as an educator make sense of phenomena based on your culture.

2. Support sense-making. Support students in the diverse ways that they make sense of phenomena and we should frame these as critical tools in engaging with science practices.

3. Engage diverse sense-making. Help students understand how scientific knowledge and practices are always evolving and developing and how students’ own community history, values, and practices have contributed to scientific understanding and problem solving - and will continue to do so.

One thing that I want to work on as an educator [when I can go back to teaching students again :,(] is the first principle of noticing sense-making repertoires. As this article points out, “understanding that learning and teaching are cultural processes, wherein certain ways of thinking, talking, acting, and valuing may be privileged over others, is powerful for teachers in creating more equitable opportunities for science learning” (35). For example, students from European American middle-class families learn to name and organize objects based on observable characteristics, like color or shape, which prepares them for the types of classification systems in the science classroom, like hierarchical taxonomies. Whereas many Indigenous communities organize their knowledge relationally and focus on ecological systems instead of taxonomical categories. As a white, middle-class woman, I spent all of my schooling through my undergrad, with science education that privileged white, middle class ways of knowing and sense-making. I have become aware of other ways of knowing (in general and in science education) since starting my graduate program in education almost 3 years ago, but 3 years of unlearning and relearning doesn’t negate 23 years of education, and I have a lot to learn still. While I have become aware of other ways of sense-making, I still do not have a lot of practice recognizing them in the moment of teaching, I think largely because I have not recognized them as sense-making practices that are different from mine.

I think a powerful way to start doing this that is highlighted in the article, is when a student says something that you don’t understand, to give space and ask them to clarify/articulate or expand on their thinking. Sometimes, questions that might seem disruptive or off topic are actually students’ ways of trying to make sense of phenomena, and taking the time to ask them to expand their thinking can provide the space for educators to understand their thinking and where they are coming from.

Another concept from this article that I am thinking about more now is the idea that “because teachers are trained to expect students’ language and ways of making sense to map to those of middle-class European Americans communities, their skill in recognizing and interpreting other ways is limited. A consequence of this is that the sense-making repertoires of students from historically underserved communities can be misread as signs of disrespect, confusion, digression, lack of knowledge, or disengagement” (p. 37). In reflecting on my teaching practice, I have a hard time differentiating between these sense-making repertoires and behaviors I might see as disruptive or breaking our learning group’s community agreement (a document that we create as a learning group at the beginning of a week where students determine how they want to act as a group - often things like “listen to others” and “not talking when the teacher is talking” make their way on there, although I wonder how many students want those to be norms or are regurgitating the norms they practice in their classrooms which are likely based on white, middle class culture). Students talking over me (when I am trying to give directions, announcements, just need to address the whole group, etc) is probably my biggest pet peeve as an educator, and something I do tell my students at the start of each week. I try to give them time to discuss as science learners during lessons and with each other during times not spent in an “academic setting,” but I wonder if I am unconsciously pushing dominant practices of being complicit onto them. As a person, I want to be heard, and listened to, and I think I need to think about how to distinguish my desire to be respected by students listening from any other reason that I might want students to not speak out of turn (like I feel like there are moments when a student shouts out an answer when I wish they wouldn’t, and I need to examine why that bothers me. Is it because I feel like they’re challenging me or because I wanted other students to have a chance to engage in the lesson? How do I make my feelings more transparent to my students and what do I need to spend time unpacking to make sure I’m treating my students equitably?) I need to learn more about sense-making repertoires across cultures to more effectively engage students in learning and unpack my perceptions of respect and how those are influenced by my culture. When students are excited about learning and shouting out, I don’t want to extinguish that enthusiasm.

This reflection is all over the place, but I would say that my next steps for this are to read about 1) sense-making repertoires and 2) how to better set group norms/expectations that allows for the diversity of sense-making repertoires and 3) to unpack my views of respect and where they come from.