planting the seeds of social justice in stem learning and teaching
DESCRIPTION
A presentation on integrating social justice into STEM education.TRANSCRIPT
Planting the Seeds of Social Justice in STEM Learning and Teaching
The Role of Educators in CultivatingQuestion Askers, Problem Solvers, and Ethical Citizens
Dr. Jeremy Price
Elizabethtown College, Elizabethtown, PA
November 12, 2015
Discussion Warm Up
What is the first word or idea that comes to mind when you think of
STEM?(Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics)
The Questions We Ask Plant the Seeds for Exploring Social Justice in STEM Education
Discussion Underpinnings
Enduring Understanding
The questions teachers ask themselves while planning and with their students have the power to seed STEM teaching and learning with meaningful social justice issues.
Essential QuestionHow do the questions teachers ask in the planning of their curriculum infuse social justice issues in STEM learning?
Setting the LandscapeFinding Our Bearings in STEM Education and Social Justice
Four Ways of Doing STEM Learning and Teaching
Understanding
Practicing
Communicating Acting On
What Is Social Justice in Teaching and Learning
Recognizing and
Respecting Difference
Understanding Structural
Inequalities
Facilitating Equal
Opportunities and Access
Empowering Learners
Basu & Calabrese Barton, 2010; Cochran-Smith, 2004; Dimick, 2012; McDonald, 2005; North, 2006; Ritchie, 2006; Tan & Calabrese Barton, 2010
Why Teachers Ask Questions inSTEM Learning Environments
• To manage the classroom ("Have you finished the titration?" "How many have completed problem 17?")
• To reinforce a fact or concept ("The food making process in green plants is called photosynthesis, right?")
• To stimulate thinking ("What would happen if...?")
• To arouse interest• To help students develop a mind-set
(Blosser, 1990)
The “Sixth Way” of Questions in STEM Education
Using Questions to Build Bridges
betweenSTEM Ideas and
Practicesand
Social Justice
Good Questions Push Us to the “Heart of Things”
Making the tacit explicit
Problematize what we think we know
Challenge learners to connect across
concepts and ideas
Discover learners’ experiences and
backgrounds
Serve as stepping stones to further
questions
The Pleasure of and Need to Ask Questions
“…[W]e teachers and students must constantly experience the pleasure of asking questions, the need to ask questions. There are challenges that need to be answered, not covered by a veil. We must be more and more curious in the face of social challenges.”
(Brass, Macedo, & Freire, 1985, p. 17)
Exploring Food InsecurityAs a Social Justice Orientation for STEM Learning and Teaching
Food Desert Phenomenon
Food Deserts are “…[U]rban neighborhoods and rural towns without ready access to fresh, healthy, and affordable food. Instead of supermarkets and grocery stores, these communities may have no food access or are served only by fast food restaurants and convenience stores that offer few healthy, affordable food options.”
Source: https://apps.ams.usda.gov/fooddeserts/fooddeserts.aspx
YOUR MISSION
• Context: You are designing an extended investigation for your mid- to upper-elementary students related to food insecurity
• Task: Craft questions that will help you design an investigation that will grow students into question askers, problem solvers, and ethical citizens.
• Materials: Pennsylvania State Standards, The USDA Food Research Atlas, Time for Kids article, and the End Food Deserts PSA.
NOTE: Your task is to craft the questions; don’t worry (at this point) about the investigation or the activities.
Communities as Food Deserts
https://youtu.be/Z6i0mIkk_OE
Questions from the PSA
What makes a community a food
desert?
Questions from the PSA
Can you get fresh vegetables where
you live?
YOUR MISSION
• Context: You are designing an extended investigation for your mid- to upper-elementary students related to food insecurity.
• Task: Craft questions that will help you design an investigation to grow students into question askers, problem solvers, and ethical citizens.
• Materials: Pennsylvania State Standards, The USDA Food Research Atlas, Time for Kids article, and the End Food Deserts PSA.
NOTE Your task is to craft questions; don’t worry about the investigation or the activities.
Sharing and Discussing Your Questions
Where We Go From HereEssential Questions for Further Inquiry intoSTEM Learning and Teaching and Social Justice
Questions for Moving Forward
• What can we hear from the students’ own interests and experiences that help them uncover the connections between social justice issues and STEM learning?
• What are the understandings, practices, and communication skills that we want our students to adopt in uncovering the connections between social justice issues and STEM learning?
• What experiences and environments can we design in which to engage our students to help them grow into question askers, problem solvers, and ethical decision makers?
• How do the questions teachers ask in their classrooms while teaching help students uncover the connections between social justice issues and STEM learning?
