ISSUES & INITIATIVES
Creating Equitable Learning Spaces
Guest Blog by Patricia Morgan, Ph.D., President, Georgia Science Supervisors Association
Dear Friends,
The larger conversation is centered on racism in our justice system; however, equally important are the critical discourses we must now engage in as it pertains to the racial disparities and social injustices in science education. As a Black woman science leader, I have experienced marginalization and othering both during my schooling experience and throughout my career. I am taking a stand for racial and social justice for our students, those same students that we profess to love and support. Many students receive schooling that acts as the source of their oppression. We have the power within our community of Science Ed to redress these injustices. Here are some real and actionable steps we can take to combat racism within our own curriculum in ways that will liberate our students from the oppression, marginalization, and othering that exist within the curriculum . . .
Curriculum is NOT a set of standards. Curriculum is both prescriptive (planned interactions) and descriptive (experiences). Think of the curriculum as being your game plan in football. Standards are the rule books and are consistent throughout our state and are in place to ensure the fidelity of the game. However, there are aspects of the curriculum that varies and also impacts the game plan. These are textbooks, ancillary materials and consumables, labs, scientific discourses, hidden curriculum, AND learning experiences. Sadly, some students’ learning experiences, thus their game plan, are stained with racism, sexism, classism, and a multitude of other isms that oppress our students. School is just a microcosm of our society.
I loathe hearing “we need more time to digest this” or “there’s no silver bullet to fix this.” Because actually there is a fix, and our students shouldn’t have to endure another school year of systemic injustices as we grapple with our feelings. Our students do not have educational gaps, we have an educational debt that must be addressed and paid swiftly. Below I highlight five things we can do immediately to create equitable spaces in science:
Guest Blog by Patricia Morgan, Ph.D., President, Georgia Science Supervisors Association
Dear Friends,
The larger conversation is centered on racism in our justice system; however, equally important are the critical discourses we must now engage in as it pertains to the racial disparities and social injustices in science education. As a Black woman science leader, I have experienced marginalization and othering both during my schooling experience and throughout my career. I am taking a stand for racial and social justice for our students, those same students that we profess to love and support. Many students receive schooling that acts as the source of their oppression. We have the power within our community of Science Ed to redress these injustices. Here are some real and actionable steps we can take to combat racism within our own curriculum in ways that will liberate our students from the oppression, marginalization, and othering that exist within the curriculum . . .
Curriculum is NOT a set of standards. Curriculum is both prescriptive (planned interactions) and descriptive (experiences). Think of the curriculum as being your game plan in football. Standards are the rule books and are consistent throughout our state and are in place to ensure the fidelity of the game. However, there are aspects of the curriculum that varies and also impacts the game plan. These are textbooks, ancillary materials and consumables, labs, scientific discourses, hidden curriculum, AND learning experiences. Sadly, some students’ learning experiences, thus their game plan, are stained with racism, sexism, classism, and a multitude of other isms that oppress our students. School is just a microcosm of our society.
I loathe hearing “we need more time to digest this” or “there’s no silver bullet to fix this.” Because actually there is a fix, and our students shouldn’t have to endure another school year of systemic injustices as we grapple with our feelings. Our students do not have educational gaps, we have an educational debt that must be addressed and paid swiftly. Below I highlight five things we can do immediately to create equitable spaces in science:
1. Critically examine your biases (implicit and explicit), privilege, and cultural competence.
2. Remove deficit-based languages from your vocabulary and perceive student strengths
3. Question if your students see themselves reflected in the curriculum.
For example, Chambers (1983) studied students’ depiction of scientists from 1966 to 1977 and found that 0.6% of elementary-age children drew a female scientist during his “The draw‐a‐scientist test.” Miller et al. (2018) continued this work with a meta-analysis of five decades of continued testing and found that now 28% of children drew female scientists.
Female STEM Role Model Posters
Diverse Engineer Posters
Best Free Posters of Women in STEM
4. Help students develop a critical consciousness so that they too become change agents.
Most times (or just during Black History Month) we share positive narratives of Black people in STEM (i.e., Hidden Figures) but we fail to discuss and have courageous conversations about systemic oppression and abuse of Black people in Science (e.g., Henrietta Lacks and Cell Research, Tuskegee Syphilis Study, Beyonce, Serena and the High Mortality Rate of Black Mothers, etc.). Teach both realities and have them challenge the current status-quo of the social order.
5. Review course sequences and course offerings for children of color and disaggregate student placement in remedial, gifted, honors, and AP courses by ethnicity and gender.
What does this data tell you? You may be surprised to see that for years, low-income/ high IQ students are steered away from gifted courses due to their teachers’ perception of their abilities, and children of color are steered away from more advanced and rigorous courses than their white peers. I’ve heard plenty of horrible excuses for this practice (e.g., “My students can’t read on grade level for Biology, so I am going to place them in Earth Science to start). This is wrong. As someone who sat on the Earth Science Standards Revision Committee, I can ensure you that Earth Science is just as vocab intensive as Biology. The ugly truth is that we try to steer students away from Biology because it is a tested subject and tested subjects require accountability.
6. Consider students' "funds of knowledge" as assets.
Partner with families to get to know each student's cultural, linguistic and educational background and value the experience and perspectives that they bring to the classroom.
- Need help? →
- Take Harvard’s Project Implicit Test.
- Also, watch and read any of the following:
2. Remove deficit-based languages from your vocabulary and perceive student strengths
- Need help? →
- Remove deficit language and instructional practices from your teaching toolbox.
- Example: stop teaching science content words in isolation from experience (see STEMTeachingTool for tips).
- Example: Replace “those kids don’t speak English” with “my students are multilingual.”
- Remove deficit language and instructional practices from your teaching toolbox.
3. Question if your students see themselves reflected in the curriculum.
For example, Chambers (1983) studied students’ depiction of scientists from 1966 to 1977 and found that 0.6% of elementary-age children drew a female scientist during his “The draw‐a‐scientist test.” Miller et al. (2018) continued this work with a meta-analysis of five decades of continued testing and found that now 28% of children drew female scientists.
- Need help? →
Female STEM Role Model Posters
Diverse Engineer Posters
Best Free Posters of Women in STEM
4. Help students develop a critical consciousness so that they too become change agents.
Most times (or just during Black History Month) we share positive narratives of Black people in STEM (i.e., Hidden Figures) but we fail to discuss and have courageous conversations about systemic oppression and abuse of Black people in Science (e.g., Henrietta Lacks and Cell Research, Tuskegee Syphilis Study, Beyonce, Serena and the High Mortality Rate of Black Mothers, etc.). Teach both realities and have them challenge the current status-quo of the social order.
- Need help? →
- Read and watch the following:
- But That's Just Good Teaching! The Case for Culturally Relevant Pedagogy,
- Teaching Tolerance,
- Cooperative Children’s Book Center Diversity Resources,
- Teaching for Change,
- Coretta Scott King Book Award Winners,
- STEM Teaching Tools,
- The National Association for Multicultural Education,
- Social Justice: National Museum of American History Resources
- Read and watch the following:
5. Review course sequences and course offerings for children of color and disaggregate student placement in remedial, gifted, honors, and AP courses by ethnicity and gender.
What does this data tell you? You may be surprised to see that for years, low-income/ high IQ students are steered away from gifted courses due to their teachers’ perception of their abilities, and children of color are steered away from more advanced and rigorous courses than their white peers. I’ve heard plenty of horrible excuses for this practice (e.g., “My students can’t read on grade level for Biology, so I am going to place them in Earth Science to start). This is wrong. As someone who sat on the Earth Science Standards Revision Committee, I can ensure you that Earth Science is just as vocab intensive as Biology. The ugly truth is that we try to steer students away from Biology because it is a tested subject and tested subjects require accountability.
- Need help? →
- Critically review course entrance rubrics
- Staff courses with highly-qualified staff who want to teach diverse students
- Read:
6. Consider students' "funds of knowledge" as assets.
Partner with families to get to know each student's cultural, linguistic and educational background and value the experience and perspectives that they bring to the classroom.
