Building an Anti-Racist Science Classroom: Science Teaching and Anti-Racism

As stated in A Framework for K–12 Science Education, “The first source of inequity links differences in achievement to differences in opportunities to learn because of inequities across schools, districts, and communities.” To provide equitable opportunities for students to learn science, we must recognize and dismantle the structural systems that have created the inequities in the first place. Then collectively as a science education community, we can rebuild learning spaces that are inclusive of our student populations and create anti-racist environments that embrace diversity and social justice. Achieving the goal of an anti-racist classroom requires the following actions:

1. Create a culture of discourse on social justice. As science teachers, we have a responsibility to practice the nature of science in our classrooms, which includes arguing from evidence on societal issues that directly impact our BIPOC students. Our students must feel heard and validated while participating in the science and engineering practices innovated by the Framework.
2. Cultivate learning experiences that embrace each of your students. Actively seek phenomena that speak to the cultures, communities, and lived identities of our students. We must advocate for increased diversity in our curriculum and instruction and amplify the voices of Black and indigenous scientists’ contributions to STEM.
3. Dismantle structural and systemic inequities in science education. Anti-racist teaching is not just for educators of color, it is also for our fellow white teachers. This creates an allyship in which students of all backgrounds see a united front against racism and structurally racist practices. This involves highlighting scientists of color and emphasizing historical science practices that celebrate the achievements of scientists from BIPOC backgrounds.

Anti-racist teaching is more than simply telling students about scientists of color. We must truly cultivate the students’ experience in science. Take time to continue professional learning about anti-racist teaching practices that address racism, implicit bias, and microaggressions in the classroom. Identify and connect with other equity-driven teachers or staff members and form committees to consistently advocate for social justice, diversity, inclusion, and equitable access in all areas of curriculum and instruction. As author and University of Georgia professor Bettina Love states, “Schools must support the fullness of dark life as a way to justice…White folx [the more inclusive version of “folks”] embracing Black joy is loving seeing dark people win, thrive, honor their history, and be fully human.” (Love 2019, p. 114)

As educators, we have a responsibility to be actively anti-racist in the science classroom. The articles in this issue amplify critical Black voices in the science education community and aim to encourage our fellow white educators to stand with us as allies in creating anti-racist classrooms.

Reprinted from: The Next Gen Navigator © 2020 National Science Teaching Association

About the author:

Dr. Leena Bakshi is the founder of STEM 4 Real, a nonprofit professional learning organization committed to combining STEM content learning and leadership with principles of equity and social justice.

Resources

• Love, B. L. 2019. We want to do more than survive: Abolitionist teaching and the pursuit of educational freedom. Boston: Beacon Press.
• Kendi, I. X. 2019. How to be an antiracist. First Edition. New York: One World.
• STEM4Real Lesson Planning Tools. https://stem4real.org/lesson-planning-tools/
• Bakshi, L. 2019. There’s Something in the Water. STEM4Real. https://books.google.com/books/about/There_s_Something_in_the_Water.html?id=y0H4wwEACAAJ.
• Okonofua, J.A., and J.L. Eberhardt. 2015. Two strikes: Race and the disciplining of young students. Psychological Science 26 (5): 617–624. https://edens.berkeley.edu/PDF/2strikes.pdf.
• California Association of Science Educators. 2019. Equitable Access to Science Education in California. https://cascience.org/application/files/8515/6261/0691/Equitable_Access_to_Science_Education.pdf
• National Research Council (NRC). 2012. A framework for K–12 science education: Practices, crosscutting concepts, and core ideas. Washington, DC: National Academies Press.