Communicating Science in a Culturally Relevant Way to Enhance Environmental Action
by Mary Osborn
Abstract:
The goal of culturally relevant pedagogy in teaching high school science is to create a sense of self in the content taught. Scientific knowledge should be accessible, relatable, and applicable to every person across the whole globe regardless of skin color or cultural background. By implementing culturally relevant material into the science classroom we can support students in becoming agents of change for the unpredictable future of this earth. They can search for solutions to environmental problems, social injustices, and combat the disparities society and STEM careers. In addition, by enhancing scientific literacy we can support all citizens to make wise decisions when it comes to environmental issues.
Cultural Awareness in the Science Classroom:
“The greatest discoveries of science have always been those that forced us to rethink our beliefs about the universe and our place in it,” a quote from Robert L. Park. We are forced to rethink the world when knowledge is gained and the environment around us shifts irreversibly. Science if often seen as an abstract subject that once helped us reach the moon, discover the atom, or that the earth orbits around the sun. Yet we often fail to see the beauty that is often all around us on a daily basis and the actions we can make to protect it. My goal in teaching science in a culturally relevant way is for my students to create a sense of self in nature. I want them to use science to investigate the problems they see in the world and seek solutions which will, in turn, make the content meaningful to all students including minorities. Often western designed textbooks talk most often about “old white guys” discovering new inventions such as the light bulb and electricity but not about how people of all cultures and ethnicities have shaped the scientific knowledge we have today. Many people lack the awareness that in places around the world the earth and the animals that roam it reflect spirituality and demands respect rather than some presidential candidate. Adapting my teaching pedagogy to include all students will allow me to foster multicultural awareness, become an advocate for my students, and develop the scientific mindset that I want all my students to adopt.
Social justice encompasses more than just race but culture, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, and much more. Perpetuation over long periods of time has led to unequal educational opportunities for all kinds of people. This happens fairly commonly in America where we tell people who are different that they must conform to the cultural standard and work hard to achieve it. This work hard to achieve mindset creates a stigma of laziness for those types of people who are oppressed due to the education system. There needs to be a flexibility in teaching that allows for all cultures and people to be considered just as important as the average “American”. In STEM careers especially, there is a huge underrepresentation of minority students. This could be due to a variety of factors but I can not help but think that these students may not feel they can be a part of science and engineering or they may not see an interest in it. For students that may not feel they can be a part of science and engineering, I will provide them with positive role models that may look like them as encouragement that they can achieve whatever they put their mind to. Bringing in guest speakers which are scientists and engineers of color will show my students that they too can go into the STEM field if they so choose. I do not want them to feel as if there is a barrier for them to do so and I will provide them with information about potential jobs in these fields that range from high school diploma, associates degree, bachelors, and all the way to doctorate. This range will be so that they can see that if they stick to something that it will all pay off in the long run.
By showing my students that not only old white men contribute to science but women, people of color, and minorities they can make personal connections with the content. I think by doing this and creating lessons in which students research and study people of color and women in science they will feel more empowered to believe that they can be a scientist and they are scientists every day in the classroom. Using science to foster multicultural awareness will be a challenge but making it real to them and stressing that anyone can be a scientist regardless of race or background will begin. By creating an open environment, my students will feel as if their questions are valid and we can investigate the world around us in a critical way. Ways in which I will do this is modifying my teaching strategies depending on my students to make it relatable and understandable. I will bring in the unknown knowledge about minority scientists and how they have shaped our society today. To aid this, I will bring in scientists and guest speakers from varieties of different backgrounds to show them that it is not only white males that influence scientific research. In doing this, I hope to become an advocate for my students in which they know that I care about them and believe in their futures. This will encourage all my students to come to class and create a mindset to look at the world and challenge what they see because they are all scientists at heart. Science isn’t just for the top 20 percent, 30 percent, or even 60 percent. Scientific knowledge should be accessible, relatable, and applicable to every person across the whole globe regardless of skin color or cultural background. For the future of our planet, and my students, it is my duty to share this knowledge to create and foster a scientifically conscious community of young people who care enough to do something about the threats to biodiversity everywhere. Many influential people and scientists from different backgrounds and cultures have shaped our scientific knowledge which has been overshadowed by the western designed textbooks. My students will know that they are all scientists in their own way if they are asking questions about the world around them, they are scientists if they wonder why the sky is blue or trees are green, they are scientists.
Education is supposed to be a way of “climbing the ladder” yet we systemically oppress certain groups of people to those unwanted jobs. I heard a poem recently that said that we need to turn the ladder into a bridge and allow everyone to walk across it. We as educators not only have to be aware of this but harness this knowledge for good to have a positive impact on our student’s lives. This awareness comes from developing a mutual trust with our students and making sure they know you care about them no matter what. It is our job as teachers to provide the trusting and respectful relationships that can create awareness for the educational oppression occurring and use our activism to change the laws to help instead of hurt our students. Building a hopeful future cannot happen overnight, but I can as an educator do my best to create a community of love and support in and out of the school. The only way to address this is to use public school policies, teacher unions, and student resources to spread the love and awareness to help our students reach their full potential. Unfortunately, we cannot save every student but we must be their advocates in and out of the classroom. My goal every day while teaching is to make every child feel important and cared for regardless of the color of their skin, their sexual orientation, or anything that makes them different. I will embrace them as much as I can and provide them a safe space in which they can forget about the prejudices of the world and know that they are loved in my classroom. From treating all students with respect and care to providing lessons in which they feel relates to them are just a few ways in which I can appeal to all students regardless of their background.
Many of my students may not feel they have a place in science or see themselves as scientists, I want to prove them wrong. I want my classroom to be a place in which they can explore their own ideas, problems, and questions. The whole purpose of science is to investigate and find answers to why things are the way they are. In order for my students to develop their own interest in science, I want to provide opportunities for them to design their own experiments and find solutions to questions that may be relevant to them their families, or their community. My hope is by doing this, I can appeal to students of all backgrounds, appeal to the scientist within them, and spark something that they may not have known was always there. By doing this, not only am I appealing to students of diverse backgrounds but showing them that although they may feel powerless to the injustices of the world they can be problem solvers, inventors, scientists, engineers, and the leaders of tomorrow.Cultural modeling in the classroom can be used as a tool for students to use their own experiences to aid in their educational projects. Doing a project in which embodies Cultural Modeling would implement “the design of learning environments that examines what youth know from everyday settings to support specific subject matter learning” (Lee 2007 p. 15). One of the ways in which I can use Cultural Modeling is to look at traditional ways of doing things such as cooking and foraging to dive deeper into the roots of certain cultures and expose my students to ways in which people lived off the land and respected what they had. Using inquiry in science education is a way in which my students can search for answers to questions they have not me. By giving them a lab or project to do, I drastically reduce their autonomy and power in exploring the subject or problem from their own perspective. When choosing projects to give my students, I want them to be as open as possible so that they feel as if they can explore whatever problems or environmental issues that they see relevant in their own lives. Students who engage in this type of learning and generate their own lines of inquiry results in a more authentic way of exploring scientific concepts (Buxton 2006).
Cultural modeling in the classroom can be used as a tool for students to use their own experiences to aid in their educational projects. Doing a project in which embodies Cultural Modeling would implement “the design of learning environments that examines what youth know from everyday settings to support specific subject matter learning” (Lee 2007 p. 15). One of the ways in which I can use Cultural Modeling is to look at traditional ways of doing things such as cooking and foraging to dive deeper into the roots of certain cultures and expose my students to ways in which people lived off the land and respected what they had. Using inquiry in science education is a way in which my students can search for answers to questions they have not me. By giving them a lab or project to do, I drastically reduce their autonomy and power in exploring the subject or problem from their own perspective. When choosing projects to give my students, I want them to be as open as possible so that they feel as if they can explore whatever problems or environmental issues that they see relevant in their own lives. Students who engage in this type of learning and generate their own lines of inquiry results in a more authentic way of exploring scientific concepts (Buxton 2006).
When my students have the opportunity to explore their own injustices in their neighborhoods and communities they will feel as if they have the power to change the disparities they see on a daily basis. They can use science to address local issues such as water pollution and analyze and address the social injustices around that issue (Dimick, 2012). They can test the waterways near their home for pollutants, search for potential sources, and compare that to areas in which have more trees, money, or resources. This information can then be harnessed for good by showing local leaders and organizations about the issues and how they relate to social justice. This is important now more than ever because minority neighborhoods and communities are most negatively affected by environmental degradation.
By being a supporter of those students I can make sure that I am a visible example of someone who supports minority students to become the best that they can be. In addition to this, I can be someone who makes these struggles known to students who are not minorities to raise awareness in their lives about how other people are affected by laws and rules in which disadvantage minority people and students. Even if my students decide to go into another field other than science, by challenging them to look at the world from a scientific perspective, analyze the data and information that comes their way, and use the facts and information they know to make wise choices in their own lives and greater communities. To me, this would be my students going on to encourage reuse, reduction of plastic waste, and recycling in their homes, work, and neighborhoods. This would also be students engaging in community projects in which they start a community garden, grow their own food, and share it with local people to encourage sustainable farming practices and better nutrition. One of the items in which my students can engage in is making responsible political decisions in which they elect representatives in which embody their values and ideals. By critically analyzing political representation, we can all better from having people in office that not only support science but are willing to help fund projects and initiatives that support the betterment of all people.
We as educators not only have to be aware of this but harness this knowledge for good to have a positive impact on our student’s lives. This awareness comes from developing a mutual trust with our students and making sure they know you care about them no matter what. My goal every day while teaching is to make every child feel important and cared for regardless of the color of their skin, their sexual orientation, or anything that makes them different. I will embrace them as much as I can and provide them a safe space in which they can forget about the prejudices of the world and know that they are loved in my classroom.
We have to go farther than just teach in the classroom but go to student’s homes, have proper afterschool tutoring and support, and join together as a community of educators and supporters to help our students thrive. Building a hopeful future cannot happen overnight, but I can as an educator do my best to create a community of love and support in and out of the school. The only way to address this is to use public school policies, teacher unions, and student resources to spread the love and awareness to help our students reach their full potential.
Standards that can be applied using cultural relevance:
EEn.2.2 Understand how human influences impact the lithosphere.
- 2.2.1 Explain the consequences of human activities on the lithosphere (such as mining, deforestation, agriculture, overgrazing, urbanization, and land use) past and present.
- 2.2.2 Compare the various methods humans use to acquire traditional energy sources (such as peat, coal, oil, natural gas, nuclear fission, and wood).
EEn.2.4 Evaluate how humans use water.
- 2.4.1 Evaluate human influences on freshwater availability.
- 2.4.2 Evaluate human influences on water quality in North Carolina’s river basins, wetlands, and tidal environments.
EEn.2.6 Analyze patterns of global climate change over time.
- 2.6.3 Analyze the impacts that human activities have on global climate change (such as burning hydrocarbons, greenhouse effect, and deforestation).
EEn.2.7 Explain how the lithosphere, hydrosphere, and atmosphere individually and collectively affect the biosphere.
- 2.7.3 Explain how human activities impact the biosphere
EEn.2.8 Evaluate human behaviors in terms of how likely they are to ensure the ability to live sustainably on Earth.
Annotated Lesson Plans:
Air Pollution- Environmental Justice: This lesson dives into air pollution in areas where there is a high percentage of minorities. This indicates a disparity amongst minority areas in which may lack trees to filter out any pollution. Students would examine the areas in which have the highest pollution rates, why those areas, and potential solutions.
http://www.tolerance.org/supplement/environmental-justice-high-school
Song- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PLaE0QZlyKs
Youtube Videos: This is a good video I can show my students when we learn about climate, the greenhouse affect, and aerosols influence on the climate.
Global WarNing- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aV3C-e2ukWw
North Carolina Case Study- Environmental Justice Stories: We can show these in our classroom to show how people around North Carolina are affected by climate change, environmental issues, etc.
http://www.learnnc.org/lp/media/uploads/2010/12/afton_summary_07-0320_for_web.pdf
http://www.learnnc.org/lp/pages/6968
https://www.niehs.nih.gov/health/assets/docs_f_o/lesson_nc_ej_508.pdf
Water Muddle Up and Clean Up Activity- This involves students researching and finding sources of water pollution. Students will investigate chemicals, their effect on water, and ways in which they can address water quality in their neighborhoods.
https://www.niehs.nih.gov/health/assets/docs_f_o/lesson_water_508.pdf
Environmental Justice Case Study Worksheet- Students will examine their own case studies on environmental justice issues and use this worksheet as a guide for their research.
http://www.calwater.ca.gov/content/Documents/environmental_justice/The_Four_Domains.pdf
Town “X” and Environmental Justice- This interesting read provides a fictional town and the stories of pollution and disparagement between its citizens. Students will work in groups reading about their citizen and describe to the rest of the class how that person was affected by the pollution in the town. Once the students discuss their citizens they will see the differences and potential social justice issues involved in town “X”.
http://aaec.vt.edu/content/dam/aaec_vt_edu/extension/cee/files/environmental-justice.pdf
Using Statistics to Explore Environmental Justice- This lesson plan discusses how high school students can examine the data for themselves to explore environmental issues through a social justice lens.
http://www.esi.utexas.edu/files/083-Lesson-Plan-Using-Statistics.pdf
Bibliography:
Barton, C.A. (2006). Creating contextually authentic science in a “low performing” urban elementary school. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 43, 695-721.
Dimick, A.S. (2012). Students’ empowerment in an environmental science classroom: Toward a framework for social justice science education. Science Education, 96, 990-1012.
“Environmental Justice: High School.” Environmental Justice: High School | Teaching Tolerance – Diversity, Equity and Justice. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 May 2017. <http://www.tolerance.org/supplement/environmental-justice-high-school>.
Greenforall. “Global WarNing – Earth Amplified Feat. Stic.man from Dead Prez.” YouTube. YouTube, 15 June 2012. Web. 04 May 2017. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aV3C-e2ukWw>.
HSRA26. “Clean Up The Air Video (GET UR GREEN Official Music Video).” YouTube. YouTube, 24 Aug. 2011. Web. 04 May 2017. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PLaE0QZlyKs>.
Introducing Students to Environmental Justice: A North Carolina Case Study. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 May 2017. <http://www.learnnc.org/lp/pages/6968>.
Lee, C.D. (2007). Culture, literacy, and learning: Taking bloom in the midst of the whirlwind. New York: Teachers College Press.
N.p., n.d. Web. <http://www.learnnc.org/lp/media/uploads/2010/12/afton_summary_07-0320_for_web.pdf+>.
N.p., n.d. Web. <http://www.esi.utexas.edu/files/083-Lesson-Plan-Using-Statistics.pdf+>.
N.p., n.d. Web. <http://aaec.vt.edu/content/dam/aaec_vt_edu/extension/cee/files/environmental-justice.pdf+>.N.p., n.d. Web. <http://www.calwater.ca.gov/content/Documents/environmental_justice/The_Four_Domains.pdf+>.
N.p., n.d. Web. <http://www.calwater.ca.gov/content/Documents/environmental_justice/The_Four_Domains.pdf+>.
N.p., n.d. Web. <http://www.calwater.ca.gov/content/Documents/environmental_justice/The_Four_Domains.pdf+>.
N.p., n.d. Web. <https://www.niehs.nih.gov/health/assets/docs_f_o/lesson_water_508.pdf+>.
