Resisting the Marginalization of Science in Urban Schools

Sci-Ed 2010 Summer Institute

Maria S. Rivera MaulucciBarnard College

The Rose Assessment…

An Overview of the Challenge…

K-8, NYC Public School

Fourth Grade Science Achievement Data i

Cohort I 2002 Cohort II 2003

Number of Students Tested

Percent of 4th Grade Students Scoring

Above State Designated

Level

Number of Students Tested

Percent of 4th Grade Students Scoring

Above State Designated

Level

All Students

151 20 158 23

Black 55 16 53 28

Hispanic 91 22 102 21

Female 79 15 80 19

Male 72 25 78 28

ELL 14 0 17 0

English Proficient

137 22 141 26

1 From 2002-2003 Annual School Report

The challenges are EFFECTS of the

marginalization of science AND the

under-education of students in many

urban public schools linked to

patterns of race, ethnicity, class,

language, and gender.

Do you think science is a priority in this school? Why or why not?

What are some inferences you could make about the quantity and quality of science teaching in the school?

More Challenges…Teachers’ Background, Education, Certification, and Experience

Description Tina Janine Randi

Demographics White, middle class

White, middle class

White, middle class

Education Psychology major. Enrolled in alternative certification program

Sociology major, Elementary education minor, Master of Special Education

Nutritional science major, Master of Educational Psychology

Teacher Certification

None, NYC Teaching Fellow

NYS Elementary, NYS Special Education

Arizona Elementary, NYS license pending

Teaching Experience

1 year Pre-K 1 semester TA, 5th Grade,

1 semester head teacher, Pre-K

2.5 years, 2nd and 3rd Grade leave replacements

all suburban schools

5 years 5th Grade 1 year 5th Grade

Gifted and Talented

Years in Current School

First First First

The challenges reflect issues of:

• SUPPLY in terms of which students enter

most teacher education programs

• DEMAND in terms of where most teachers

are needed

• Patterns of TEACHER TURNOVER,

RECRUITMENT, and HIRING of new

teachers in urban public schools

The hope is in the power of ONE to change their part of the world in significant ways.

In the remainder of this presentation, I HOPE to provide you with a framework for thinking about the marginalization of science in ways that help you to address that marginalization more strategically.

Where’s the Hope?

Your community is drafting a

Science Bill of Rights for Students.

It is a multicultural community with diversity in

terms of race, class, ethnicity, language,

religion, gender, and ability.

What rights would you include?

Take 5 minutes to jot down your ideas.

A Science Bill of Rights for Students…

You are teachers in schools in the

community.

Your TASK will be to create a story to inform your audience about our community’s new Science Bill of Rights for Students.

You will select an audience, an art form and a genre/purpose from a hat.

Storytelling Exercise…

What are some of the non-negotiable rights evident across the groups?

What are some of the assumptions we are making about our audiences that are real and what some assumptions that might need unpacking?

How do the different art forms, genres, and purposes help us think about the issue more creatively, or “outside-the-box?”

What are some of the different perspectives that you have become aware of as a result of this activity?

Discussion Questions…

Resource Description Examples

Material Physical resources for teaching science

Tables, sinks, technology, consumable and non-consumable supplies, equipment, science curricula, and texts

Cultural Knowledge, skills, education, and experiences within particular contexts

Knowledge of: science, science pedagogy, school culture, students’ cultures and linguistic resources

Social Available through relationships, networks, or group membership

Trust, solidarity, collaborative science curriculum development, peer observations, lesson study

Symbolic Arise from recognition or prestige associated with a cultural value.

Recognition of teachers’ efforts to teach science, encouragement to teach science, availability of professional development

Strategic Embodied by others and leveraged to resist the marginalization of science

Students’ interest in science leveraged to gain their support for inquiry-based methods

A sociocultural perspective…

Material and Symbolic Resources

Privileging of literacy and mathematics

Material Resources

Lack of science supplies in the

classroom

Cultural Resources

Lack of science textbooks and

teacher resources

Minimal school-based science professional development

Social and Symbolic Resources

Lack of recognition of teachers’ efforts to teach science

Factors that marginalized science in the teachers’ classrooms.

Material

Cultural

Social

Symbolic

Overcoming the inertia…

If it wasn’t for you . . . I probably would have taught hardly any science this year. Because I just, I didn’t know where to go for the info. I also felt that looking at the curriculum map that they gave us and figuring out what to do to cover that info was a hard thing…Janine

Keeping in mind our Science Bill of Rights for Students, take about 5 minutes to jot down constraints that you would identify in your teaching contexts.

Put a star next to constraints that you think have the most impact on your ability to engage in democratic science pedagogy.

Evaluating your teaching context…

What would you say is the greatest strategic resource you have available to you to enact democratic pedagogy?

In small groups, share your lists with each other. Brainstorm ways to address the constraints you identified either through activating resources in your school, community, or other outside venues.

Include ways to activate strategic resources.

Activating strategic resources…

Moving forward…

Have a clear vision…

Establish SMART goals…◦ S pecific◦ M easurable◦ A ttainable◦ R elevant◦ T imely

Activate social resources…

◦ Students

◦ Colleagues

◦ Administrators

Be strategic…

Moving forward…

Synonyms

deliberate

politic

critical

imperative

Focus on students…

What does multiculturalism mean to you as a teacher?

◦ Being cognizant and interested in my students’ backgrounds, histories, & experiences

◦ Suggesting to my students that they should explore being open-minded, curious, and questioning of their own and other students’ backgrounds/ histories/experiences.

◦ Shaping my teaching around students “cultural” backgrounds to enhance their strengths and bolster their weaknesses.

-Jhumki Basu, 2003

What to do when the going gets rough…

I’m finding it difficult to verbalize what I think. Issues around diversity & multiculturalism are complex, and the process of changing thought into words, at once, seems to over-simplify the issue being discussed. Something is always omitted or given cursory treatment, or a generalization is made from a limited number of experiences. -Jhumki 1/22/03

Acknowledge tensions…

In the end, good teaching lies in a willingness to attend and care for what happens in our students, ourselves, and the space between us. Good teaching is a certain kind of stance, I think. It is a stance of receptivity, of attunement, of listening.

-Laurent A. Daloz

Some final words of wisdom…not mine…