Teaching Science to Every Child:
Using Culture as a Starting Point
Chapter 14
Teachers Negotiating
Different Communities
©Routledge/Taylor & Francis 2012
©Routledge/Taylor & Francis 2012
Chapter 14 Topics
More Than Just Methods
Negotiating Shifting Terrains
Teachers Negotiating Different Communities
The Goal of Equitable Science Teaching
Helping Negotiate Between Communities
©Routledge/Taylor & Francis 2012
More Than Just Methods
Knowledge of effective methods of teaching science goes
beyond the techniques
Being able and willing to engage in science is more than
cognitive: There are motivational factors
Teaching science always occurs in a context—of children’s
ambitions, of family expectations, and of school traditions
If there is the sense that some students are “unteachable”
perhaps this has the most to do with the particular teacher
©Routledge/Taylor & Francis 2012
Negotiating Shifting Terrains
A shift toward teaching science to all students
Equitable teaching: Not the same as treating all equally
Recognizing differences as opposed to being colorblind
Negotiating between schools and families/communities
©Routledge/Taylor & Francis 2012
The Goal of Equitable Science Teaching
Equivalent access to resources: Materials,
knowledge, and expertise
Expectations are ambitious yet appropriate to the
individual student
In their own way, each and every student is to
develop science literacy
Short of wanting all students to become scientists,
we do aspire for all to become competent at science
©Routledge/Taylor & Francis 2012
Negotiating Different Communities
Balance professional science with classroom science
Negotiating different value systems and beliefs
The essentializing trap: Treating a group as homogeneous
Seeking “funds of knowledge” in families and communities
Negotiating differences within your classroom
Fairness ≠ Sameness. Do not view differences as deficits
©Routledge/Taylor & Francis 2012
Chapter 14 Summary
Effective science teaching demands more from teachers than
expertise with instructional methods
Science education is changing which requires teachers to
always be adjusting to the shifts in context
Negotiating between and across various community
boundaries is a central aspect of being a teacher
The goal of providing equitable science teaching extends
beyond treating students as members of groups
Negotiations involve becoming knowledgeable about multiple
communities and being able to navigate the borders
©Routledge/Taylor & Francis 2012