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A Descriptive Study of Pre-service Teachers' Perceptions of African American Students' Ability to Achieve in Mathematics and Science
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At least since 1977, African Americans have been underrepresented in science related careers. Although researchers have identified a number of factors which correlate with students' career decisions, they have failed to explain how these factors are related to race. Moreover, this body of research has failed to consider the role of mathematics and science teachers' perceptions of African-American students. This study identifies and describes perceptions held by 49 pre-service mathematics and science teachers about mathematics and science ability of African-American students. Data were collected by means of a three-part, open-ended questionnaire. Findings indicate that over one-third of pre-service teachers are unaware that African Americans achieve below their peers in mathematics and science; they overwhelmingly place culpability for African-American students' achievement with the students and their communities; and they are largely unable to identify culturally relevant teaching strategies to address African-American students' achievement.
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... The problem, which originally gave rise to this essay, is the low number of African American 1 students who pursue science-related careers. This problem has formed the core of my research agenda (Lewis, 1997;Lewis & Collins, 2001;Lewis & Connell, 2005;Lewis, Pitts, & Collins, 2002) for over 14 years and has been a subject of study for other social scientists at least since 1971 (e.g., Hager & Elton, 1971). Currently, African Americans comprise fewer than 2% of practicing, PhD-holding scientists. ...
... The first genre is disparity literature, wherein the science education of African Americans is almost singularly presented in terms of the disparity between African American students and their peers. Among this literature are reports, which document and draw attention to the disparity (e.g., Malcom, George, & Van Horne, 1996;National Science Board, 2000;Norman, Ault, Bentz, & Meskimen, 2001), empirical research aimed at explaining the disparity (e.g., Hager & Elton, 1971;Lewis et al., 2002), and descriptions of intervention efforts or policy changes that would ameliorate the disparity (e.g., Ellis, 1993;Maton, Hrabowski, & Schmitt, 2000;Seiler, 2001). ...
The body of research aimed at explaining the science teaching and learning of African Americans has identified myriad factors that correlate with African American's science career choices and science performance generally. It has not, however, offered any satisfactory explanations as to why those factors are disproportionately racially determined. This article argues that the sociocultural construction of race, which has roots in antebellum Western society, has endured to the present day; and that there is sufficient historical tradition and empirical evidence to warrant a research agenda that accounts for the sociocultural construction of race in explaining African American science education. The article concludes by suggesting a set of research questions and theoretical perspectives that considers the sociocultural construction of race to guide future research. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 50:82–103, 2013
... These positionalities, as indicators of more deeply held beliefs about culturally diverse students and communities, can have significant implications for teaching. Beliefs about students could influence instructional decisions (Lewis, Pitts, and Collins 2002). Within an urban context with underperforming students, deficit beliefs could lead to instructional practices that exclude students from having access to high-quality learning opportunities (Richardson 1996). ...
This study investigated the experiences of a group of pre-service secondary science teachers in learning to teach in culturally diverse contexts. The pre-service teachers were all assigned to placements within a large, urban, culturally diverse public high school and paired with mentor teachers. Through one-on-one interviews, the pre-service teachers were asked to recount and evaluate their experiences, as well as to respond to research-informed deficit beliefs about urban and culturally diverse students and communities. Through critical discourse analysis, the pre-service teachers were characterized as establishing particular positionalities in regards to learning to teach within the culturally diverse context of the high school. The pre-service teachers were, furthermore, characterized as establishing particular positionalities in regards to select deficit beliefs that were discussed in the interviews. The role of agency and institutional power structures in supporting or constraining the positionalities established by the pre-service teachers was also considered. Major implications from this study include the need for teacher education programs to address gaps between pedagogical theory and practice enacted or observed in classrooms; the need to facilitate stronger systems of support for pre-service teacher education from the school-based administration; and positionalities, as indicators of more deeply held beliefs, and how these beliefs may influence teaching and learning.
... Historically, scholarship on the STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) education of African Americans has focused largely on the achievement disparity between African Americans and their non-African-American peers. (Cohen, Garcia, PurdieVaughns, Apfel, & Brzustoski, 2009;Lewis & Collins, 2001;Lewis, Pitts, & Collins, 2002;Lubienski, 2002;Maple & Stage, 1991). Some researchers have criticized this approach as a one-dimensional treatment that pathologizes African-American youth and emphasizes their perceived failure. ...
The underachievement and underrepresentation of African Americans in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) disciplines have been well documented. Efforts to improve the STEM education of African Americans continue to focus on relationships between teaching and learning and factors such as culture, race, power, class, learning preferences, cultural styles and language. Although this body of literature is deemed valuable, it fails to help STEM teacher educators and teachers critically assess other important factors such as pedagogy and curriculum. In this article, the authors argue that both pedagogy and curriculum should be centered on the social condition of African Americans – thus promoting mathematics learning and teaching that aim to improve African communities worldwide.
... With few exceptions (e.g. Contraras & Lee, 1990;Lewis, Pitts, & Collins, 2002), extant literature on African American science education fails to account for the social and historical influence of racism. What is especially problematic is that there is solid evidence from the broader body of scholarship that could be brought to bear on research in science education. ...
Although there is a significant body of work that underscores the importance of pedagogy aimed at being responsive to students' unique racial, ethnic and cultural backgrounds, there is relatively little work that helps science practitioners to understand what this pedagogy looks like in practice. Drawing on Mutegi's (2011) description of socially transformative mathematics and science curriculum and Ladson-Billings' (1995) framing of culturally responsive pedagogy, this article describes a four-week summer science camp for African American adolescent males. The article employs the methodological approach of Critical Race Theory in order to illustrate for the reader what socially transformative and culturally relevant science instruction might look like in practice.
There is a need for greater guidance in preparing pre-service teachers to enact culturally relevant pedagogy while maintaining the content and rigor of mathematics and science in middle and secondary grades. This study investigated a group of pre-service teachers’ plans to implement culturally relevant pedagogy in middle/secondary mathematics and science classrooms. Through this action research study, we sought to apply an existing culturally relevant pedagogy framework to coursework showcasing instructional planning in middle/secondary mathematics/science methods courses. This analysis would serve to help teacher educators systematically define evidence of successful culturally relevant pedagogy-aligned instructional planning, as well as identifying areas for improvement. In the coursework reviewed, there were non-traditional and traditional approaches to structuring learning tasks and activities in order to integrate elements of culturally relevant instruction. Among our results, we concluded that methods instruction could emphasize instructional planning that begins with culturally-conscious frameworks that aim to disrupt historical power dynamics, rather than conclude by making culturally significant connections, thereby supporting more pre-service teachers in possibly developing radically transformed mathematics and science instructional plans.
This chapter is a description of practice grounded in the idea that the primary problems Black children face in schools are political problems. The chapter articulates three aspects of science education that should be reconceptualized if we are to adequately address these problems. These three aspects are: the purpose of science education; science content; and the role of the instructor. The theoretical foundation for reconceptualizing these three aspects of science education comes from Goduka’s (2005) articulation of eZiko, Mutegi’s (2011) articulation of socially transformative STEM curriculum, and Codrington’s (2014) work on liberatory education. Drawing from this theoretical foundation, the chapter illustrates the how science educators could reconceptualize the purpose of science education, science content, and the role of the instructor by describing a year-long project in which three, high school-aged, young ladies and one university professor worked collaboratively as science writers. Through the Black Kids Read - Science Writers project, these young ladies took on the task of authoring science-oriented literature for elementary-aged children. [The book can be accessed at https://doi.org/10.3726/b14757].
The contrast between the scientific need for objectivity and an individual's inability to see the world through a purely objective lens places science education at the intersection between injustice and epistemic certainty. Although science education and science are often seen as synonymous, their differences highlight the pervasive impact of racism. Historically, people have attempted to use scientific and pseudo-scientific research to affirm racist theories. Using the reified clout of science, racist ideologies have continued to reinvent themselves and make their way into public opinion. Science education has attempted to deflect these racist ideologies and offer a falsely objective image of science. As a result, contemporary science education research reflects the impact of a racist science ideology, as much of the research emphasizes on how achieving equity in science education requires science educators to help underserved students meet the standards of their superior white counterparts. We contend that science education is currently unable to service its underserved because of its inability to conceptualize the impact of a racist society on opportunities available to minority students. Using a review of science education literature, we argue for the incorporation of a more acute analysis of the impact of racism on science education as it may illuminate how learning differences are associated with the re-emergent paradigm of racist science.
The low number of African Americans pursuing careers in the natural sciences has been (and continues to be) a concern for science educators. While science educators have sought to explain the science-career decisions of
Women and minorities continue to be underrepresented in quantitatively based fields of study. Additionally, selection by all students of such majors is declining. Math/Science major choice is of concern in light of the occupational demands created by advancing technology as well as the potential gaps in occupational and economic attainment of women and minorities. This article reports the analysis of a longitudinal model of math/science major choice upon entrance to college for black and white, female and male students. The model was tested using a sample drawn from the "High School and Beyond" data base. The model included background characteristics of students, ability, and an array of high school experience factors to explain choice of quantitative major. Significant predictors of major choice for the subgroups included sophomore choice of major, mathematics attitudes, math and science completed by senior year, and various parental factors. However, there were differences across groups and the model explained nearly twice as much variance for the black male, black female, and white male subgroups compared with the white female subgroup. Recommendations include broadening our ways of researching migration into and out of the mathematics/science pipeline. Argument is made for a focus on success of students enrolled in low level college mathematics classes as a way of augmenting the mathematics/scientific pipeline.
Student teacher Ss (44 male, 97 female) rated six academic attributes and five social attributes of fictitious seventh-grade boys on the basis of school records. These records included pictures of students varying in attractiveness and first names varying in popularity. The Ss rated all academic attributes prior to rating all social attributes in order to prevent the latter ratings from biasing the former ratings (“halo” effects). Attractive students received significantly higher evaluations than unattractive students on all ratings of social attributes but on none of the ratings of academic attributes. All predicted name popularity effects and all Attractiveness x Name Popularity interactions were nonsignificant. Discrepancies between these results and those of earlier studies might be due to possible “halo” effects in those studies or to the possibility (suggested by earlier research) that attractiveness and name popularity affect the expectations of experienced teachers more than the expectations of student teachers.