miyoun lim, phd edsc 8440 f10 week 11

Can pigeons be racist?: Exploring hybridity, thirdspace, & composite culture in

science class

Miyoun Lim, PhD EDSC 8440 F10

Week 11

Grounded in Two Perspectives

• Socio-cultural perspective– Science as social practice and culture– Social-constructivism & Activity theory (Eisenhart et al.) – Situated cognition (Socio-historical perspective) (Guitierrez, et al.) – Learning as changes in participation in socially organized activity (Lave &

Wenger, 1991).

• Social justice perspective – Equity, Social Justice, & Sense of Place (Calabrese Barton) – Teaching for Social Justice (Cochran Smith)– Culturally relevant pedagogy (Ladson-Billings)– Education is political and learning ought to be thought about as transformative

for teachers and students.

Bridging Efforts for Connected Science

• What students bring – Funds of knowledge (Moll et al.,

1992) – Social & cultural capital

(Monkman et al., 2005) – Youth genres (Valeras et al.,

2001) – Identity (e.g., Vision for the

future & Social relationships) (Basu & Calabrese Barton, 2007)

– Science toolkits (Geiler, 2001)

Bridging Efforts for Connected Science

• Pedagogical frameworks – Collateral learning (Aikenhaed &

Jegede, 1999) – Contextual scaffolding (Bouillion

& Gomez, 2001) – Genres meet (Valeras et al.,

2001) – Hybridity/Third space (Guitierrez

et al., 1999; Moje, 2001) – Composite culture (Hogan &

Corey, 2001)

Case of Mr. Nader’s Class

• Purpose of the case– To explore hybridity in the class: How different genres meet – To examine tensions (as pedagogical potential) that emerged in the

class

• Context of the case – Class – School– Neighborhood/Community – Curriculum context of pigeon study – Hybridity and tensions in Mr. Nader’s class

Case of Mr. Nader’s Class

• The Class– Mr. Nader (Pseudonym) – Students in mixed grades (6-8th graders) – Environmental Science Class

• Curriculum Units – Pigeon study unit – Playground study unit

Union School (%)*(cf. City School %)*

Tremone School (%)**(cf. City School %)**

Sex Female 52.8 (48.8) 49.0 (48.6) Male 47.8 (51.2) 51.0 (51.4) Ethnicity White 4.0 (15.0) 2.0 (14.3) Black 44.2 (33.2) 31.6 (32.5) Latino/Latina 50.0 (39.0) 65.3 (38.6) Asian and others*** 1.8 (12.7) 9.0 (13.6)Other characteristics Eligible for free lunch 69.6 (69.9) 90.0 (74.7) Recent immigrants 4.3 (7.5) NA English Language Learners 3.3. (13.0) 55.0 (13.7)

•The Union School is a neighborhood, public middle school in upper west side of Manhattan in New York City. •The school served ethnic minority groups including 50 % of the student population being Latino/a and 44% being African American. •Also about 70% of the student population was eligible for free lunch.

Union School

Golito’s Neighborhood

Tell me about your neighborhood!

Oh! I live next to Central Park, and I go there all the time with my bike, with my father and grandfather sometimes and that’s where I learned how to ride a bike when I was ten.

Miyoun: Tell me about your neighborhood! Eric: There are a lot of houses around and there are not many things other than hospital and church.Miyoun: Is there any place you go and play? Eric: Not really. Cause I just moved to here.

Eric’s Neighborhood

Neighborhood is where you live at, like your community, who’s there, what stores are there, what surrounds you.

My neighborhood if it’s on Broadway it seems like some rich neighborhood, and on Amsterdam it just like some poor people who don’t have a lot of money, teenagers who don’t go to school. So either way I walk like if I walk Amsterdam when I go to school or Broadway you get two totally different feelings. You feel more comfortable on Broadway because there are a lot of people, a lot of light, and then over there it’s like some dark side. A lot of mixtures like a lot of different people with different nationalities.

Jameer’s Neighborhood

Curriculum Context The Pigeon Study: For students to learn to understand and recognize the different color morphs of pigeons.

Part 1. Pigeon KWL chart

• The class completed ‘what we know about pigeons” and the “what we want to know about pigeons” columns and discuss the columns together.

Part 2. Pigeon watching

• During the field trip, the class found a pigeon “hang out” in the school neighborhood and observe pigeons for several minutes.

• In class, students were asked to make detailed drawings of pigeons.

Part 3. Pigeon statistics

• During the field trip, the class provided pigeons with food (bread) to attract them. Then, the students counted and recorded all the pigeons by their morphs and feet colors.

• In class, students made a graph of the pigeon data and analyzed them.

• In class, the class completed KWL chart by filling out “what we have learned” column.

Analyzing Classroom Events• Using Holistic Process Analysis

Sources Process: Leveraging Sense of Place Outcomes

Identification Activation CharacteristicsLearning Opportunities

for Connected Science

Epistemological Tension Pedagogical TensionIdentity Tension

• Epistemological Tension: Different ways of knowing• Pedagogical Tension: Multiple pedagogical goals/directions

Worlds of Science TensionsTensions Youth Worlds

Tensions in Mr. Nader’s Class

KWhat we know

• All pigeons are alike• Rats with wings • They are dirty• Eat leftovers • Tend to fly in groups• They are ugly • (maybe they) Carry

diseases like rabies

Epistemological Tension

Pigeon KWL Chart

KWhat we know



WWhat we want to know

•Do pigeons carry diseases? •Where do they come from? •How many times they eat? •Why do they like Grains or rice? •Do they carry encephalitis disease in brain? •Do they eat other pigeons? •How often do they mate?


Pigeon KWL Chart

KWhat we know



WWhat we want to know

•Do pigeons carry diseases? •Where do they come from? •How many times they eat? •Why do they like Grains or rice? •Do they carry encephalitis disease in brain? •Do they eat other pigeons? •How often do they mate?


Pigeon KWL Chart L

What we have learned

• Follow each other• Many types or morphs• Majorities are bluebars and

checkers• They get along together

although they are different types

• Pigeons don’t attack (not aggressive)

• They fly fast.

What we know

• All pigeons are alike• Rats with wings • They are dirty• Eat leftovers • Tend to fly in groups• They are ugly • (maybe they) Carry diseases like

rabies

What we have learned

• Follow each other• Many types or morphs• Majorities are bluebars and

checkers• They get along together although

they are different types • Pigeons don’t attack (not

aggressive)• They fly fast.


Pigeon KWL Chart

Everyday ways of thinking • Personal • Subjective • Contextualized • Multidisciplinary

&interdisciplinary • Cognition & affect• Anecdotal • Hands-on & secondary

experience

Scientific ways of thinking• Public • Objective • Conceptual & abstract• Disciplinary • Cognition • Validity seeking• Evidence based• Observational

Epistemological Differences

Everyday ways of thinking •Personal •Subjective •Contextualized •Multidisciplinary & interdisciplinary •Cognition and affect•Anecdotal •Hands-on & secondary experience

Scientific ways of thinking

•Public •Objective •Conceptual •Disciplinary •Cognition •Validity seeking•Evidence based•Observational




• Student observation: “Eat their poop”

• Mr. Nader: “See how they follow each other”

• Student observation: “Alpha male”

• Mr. Nader explaining pigeon morphs

• Student observation: “I could get encephalitis!”

• Miyoun: “see their necks?”

Epistemological Differences

Scientific understandings of pigeons

Everyday understandings of pigeons

Worlds of Science TensionsEpistemological Tensions

Youth Worlds


Pedagogical Tension & Hybridity: Can pigeons be racist?

• How are students supported in making connections between their worlds and the worlds of (school) science?

Worlds of Science TensionsPedagogical Tension

Youth Worlds

Taking up student’s funds of knowledge & experiences in science class may create a tension in pedagogical process with a transformative potential

• Allowed Andre’s question as well as his sense making strategy to be shared o Navigating between boundarieso Anthropomorphization

• Community of learners o Opportunity to develop and nurture a learning community in classo Teacher, curriculum, & students are critical factors to create and nurture

this culture of communication


Staying with the curricular plan or venturing out with new opportunities of teaching and learning (e.g., a teachable moment)

Mr. Nader trying to wrap up the unit~ One of the tools we used… [interrupted]

Which brings up an interesting issue. I will just make a quick comment and move on. What’s the difference between animals like pigeons and other animals and animals like humans? [He explains that we need to think about the differences and similarities between pigeons and humans]

That was an excellent question. What tool… We are going to leave it open though. I don’t think we can answer it easily.

What tool… or what tools.. [Finally moves on to the tools]



• How are students supported in making connections between their worlds and the worlds of (school) science?

Worlds of Science TensionsPedagogical Tension

Youth Worlds

Taking up student’s funds of knowledge & experiences in science class may create a tension in pedagogical process with a transformative potential

Students’ Evaluation of the Pigeon Study

Golito•Excited to talk about his personal relationship with pigeons

Researcher: What else do you do for fun? Golito: Oh I go on my fire escape. There’s a nest of birds R: really? G: Yeah, I found out like two weeks ago. There are two baby birds and a mother. R: are they pigeons like the ones we saw? G: Yeah. One of them was about to fall and I put it back, and the mother was flying away, but then it came back there.

•When pigeons are object in science classResearcher: Do you like pigeons? Golito: No… R: But you said you like those in your fire escape. Why [the difference]? G: Because it’s cool to see them grow and stuff. But it is… [different] … R: So if you can change the way you studied pigeons, how would you change the study? To make it more fund and exciting? G: I don’t know.

• Accepting pigeons as academic context but not as connected to lived experiences.

Researcher : What do you think of it [pigeon study unit]?Eric: I think it was interesting we learned the different pigeons and how they

look and how they act and different things. We studied it by like color, the way they look, and we compared how the two pigeons will have the same features, but look a little different like their feet color would be different or their beak color. And we made it into a graph.

R: Right. What do you think of using pigeons instead of using other animals?E: It doesn’t really matter.R: Really? E: Maybe in a way… because I don’t really like pigeons. They’re just around.R: You don’t like them?E: No. they’re just around and nobody really cares.

Eric

• Accepting but not satisfied with the study designResearcher: So if you had the freedom to change or add or improve the

pigeon study that you guys have done, is there any suggestion you can make?

Eric: We could have done a longer study instead of just a day. Just like one day and one place. We could have changed into different places.

R: Oh. So to see how different places have different populations?E: Yeh.

Eric

Jameer: Resisting and Challenging the Academic Context

• Resisting and Challenging the pigeon study unit Researcher: What did you think about the pigeon study?Jameer: It was stupid.R: Why?J: I don’t know why I would want to learn about pigeons.R: What would you change about it?J: I wouldn’t have studied pigeons in the first place.R: What would you study instead?J: Neighborhoods or something, not pigeons. It doesn’t affect, what we are going

to do? Change the way pigeons look or something. It really didn’t help me with anything. I didn’t really like it.

• Learned something but learner is not claimingResearcher: Did you learn anything?Jameer: I learned the different types of pigeons, I learned what attracts them like

if they see one pigeon after that a whole lot of them are going to come.

• Desire to use science with a sense of purpose & as a sense making tool

• Study rats or garbage instead!J: Because rats are everywhere, they’re in people houses. I’m dead serious. I’d

choose garbage. It don’t even have to be an animal because you see garbage all over the street on Amsterdam like they don’t pick up the garbage or something, and then on Broadway it’s just not there.

• Reflection of her critical sense of the communityR: What do you think the point of the study was? J: Trust me I have no clue. It didn’t have any point to me. I don’t know where

you guys got it from. It had no point. Do it at a point like, … I would go to other neighborhoods, not just where we are. Let’s say to a cleaner neighborhood to see how many are there because pigeons don’t really do anything they just eat and that’s it. To see where pigeons like to live, in dirty neighborhoods or clean neighborhoods.

Jameer: Desire for Connected Science Learning

Revisit Pigeon KWL Chart

What we know • All pigeons are alike• Rats with wings • They are dirty• Eat leftovers • Tend to fly in groups• They are ugly • (maybe they) Carry diseases like

rabies

What we have learned • Follow each other• Many types or morphs• Majorities are bluebars and checkers• They get along together although

they are different types • Pigeons don’t attack (not aggressive)• They fly fast.

•Students’ initial ideas (negative perceptions and affect towards pigeons) were not fully addressed during the unit.•What was addressed? The cognitive•What was not taken up? The affective, subjective, and personal

Epistemological Growth through Connected Science







Reflection Questions 1. What are the teacher’s goals in the pigeon project? How does this shape

the “composite culture of the classroom”?2. What funds of knowledge and goals did the students bring to the pigeon

project? How does this shape the “composite culture of the classroom”?– What did the students know about pigeons?– How does this knowledge shape what their goals might be for the pigeon project?– How was this knowledge about pigeons useful in science class? In other words,

how did the teacher draw upon the students' funds of knowledge to help them engage in the pigeon project?

– How does Mr. Nader try to balance his goals versus his students’ goals? How does he draw upon his students ideas and experiences in ways that go beyond “tokenism”? Do you think he should have done more?

3. Does it matter to you if students can show they “learned” but you get evidence that that learning doesn’t really mean much to the students?

4. What would you do if you learned that your assessments of student learning might have missed the boat?

miyoun lim, phd edsc 8440 f10 week 11

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