Attending to Equity
While it is known that there is an achievement gap in science between learners of different family incomes and between learners in dominant and non-dominant communities, it is also recognized that all students can learn science. (NAP, 2011; Bell & Bang, 2015) Research suggests that the gap continues to persist due to inequitable opportunities to learn science and “failures to recognize and leverage the existing science-related competencies of youth and communities.” Further, “While traditional classroom practices have been found to be successful for students whose discourse practices at home resemble those at school—mainly students from middle-class and upper-middle-class European/American homes [43]—this approach does not work very well for individuals from historically nondominant groups. For these students, traditional classroom practices function as a gatekeeper, barring them because their community’s sense-making practices may not be acknowledged [38, 44-46].” (NAP, 2011) This issue is compounded by the looming need for STEM literacy needed in our nation’s workforce now and in the future. It has also been shown that different perspectives (due to culture or gender, positively impact our understanding of science research. (Medin, Lee & Bang 2014; Bell & Bang, 2015; NAP, 2011) When students experience success, they are motivated to continue learning and persevering. Unfortunately, that is usually not the case when students are struggling through so many roadblocks and cultural barriers only to come up short. This shapes their identity in regards to science and can be the death-knell of student interest or perseverance. (NAP, 2011) So, what are science educators to do to begin to better attend to equity issues and eliminate this achievement gap? The NRC Framework for K-12 Science Education, Chapter 11 is an excellent resource along with the Next Generation Science Standards’ Appendix D - "All Standards, All Students”: Making the Next Generation Science Standards Accessible to All Students. Generally, though there is much agreement about what will make a difference for students at a disadvantage. Because students are actively engaged in doing science through the practices, the NRC suggests that the “Science and engineering practices can actually serve as productive entry points for students from diverse communities—including students from different social and linguistic traditions, particularly second-language learners.” (NAP, 2011) In light of Phenomenal Science’s three-dimensional nature, this is encouraging to note. Further it is suggested, that students begin with “lived experiences” which will level the playing field, just as the Phenomenal Science experiences begin with real phenomena, and engage students with shared hands-on experiences. As explained in the Framework: “Calabrese Barton therefore argues for allowing science and science understanding to grow out of lived experiences [28]. In doing so, people “remove the binary distinction from doing science or not doing science and being in science or being out of science, [thereby allowing] connections between [learners’] life worlds and science to be made more easily [and] providing space for multiple voices to be heard and explored” [28]. . . . Everyday experience provides a rich base of knowledge and experience to support conceptual changes in science. Students bring cultural funds of knowledge that can be leveraged, combined with other concepts, and transformed into scientific concepts over time.” (NAP, 2011) This idea of “cultural funds of knowledge” is another great tool for teachers to leverage to ensure all students are learning. It refers to the idea that all students bring stores of knowledge from informal learning and home experiences that can be “assets to build on.” Oftentimes, though, because of the diversity of these ideas, they go unrecognized in school settings for the assets they are. Some examples: ”researchers have documented that children reared in rural agricultural communities, who have regular and often intense interactions with plants and animals, develop a more sophisticated understanding of the natural world than do urban and suburban children of the same age [56]. Other researchers have identified connections between children’s culturally based stories and the scientific arguments they are capable of making [50, 57].” (NAP, 2011) And “For example, the authors synthesize research on how students use sophisticated math in everyday practices like practicing basketball, playing dominoes, and selling candy.” (Shea, 2015) It has been shown that valuing this fund of knowledge that students bring with them, enables students to build new ideas and make connections to their current understandings. As noted by Shea, “learning improves when varied student experiences are made relevant in informal and formal learning environments. . . . Robust learning environments support equity, in part, by acknowledging and building on diverse student experiences.” (Shea, 2015b) Finally, beyond just valuing existing student knowledge, research shows that it is also a rich resource for a whole class of learners. (NAP, 2011) As noted by “This research acknowledges and builds on the idea that in a community of learners both adults and children can bring ideas and resources from their everyday lives to the classroom and informal learning spaces in order to create a richer learning environment for the whole class.” (Shea, 2015a) Engaging students in discourse and sense-making is valuable for all learners and builds a bridge to connect students individual funds of knowledge. This is effective for all students even those whose first language is not English, because “engagement in the discourse and practices of science, built as it is around observations and evidence, also offers not only science learning but also a rich language-learning opportunity for such students. For both reasons, inclusion in classroom discourse and engagement in science practices can be particularly valuable for such students.” (NAP, 2011) Further, “Many equity-focused interventions have leveraged the discourse (i.e., sense-making) practices of youth to productively engage them in the language and discourse styles of science and in the learning of science. . . .Recognizing that language and discourse patterns vary across culturally diverse groups, researchers point to the importance of accepting, even encouraging, students’ classroom use of informal or native language and familiar modes of interaction [47-49].” (NAP, 2011) There are many opportunities for teachers within Phenomenal Science Units to engage students in discourse and sense-making. The further challenge is to listen and watch for evidence of students’ current understandings that they bring with them to the discourse or sense-making session and to build upon them. As noted below, research has shown there are several tips and tricks for doing this effectively:
Some Resources:
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorPhenomenal Science Leadership Team Archives
February 2022
|