Strategy:

I feel that many science teachers are under the misconception that interdisciplinary work is not possible in subjects like biology, chemistry, physics, etc. but that is far from the truth. In fact, interdisciplinary work may be the best way to teach racial justice to students in any classroom. As a scientist, I know how much literature review goes into my research before I actually conduct it, and a lot of it is from historical sources. To be well-versed enough to communicate science to anyone, you have to be well-read too. To have the ability to have science literature combined with racial justice themes in this day is a blessing. It is important to take important literature and historical events in the BIPOC community and incorporate these into science learning, even if it means taking time out of class to read some literature and historical documentaries about work done in the BIPOC community. There are books circulating today that successfully teach science topics as well as talk about important racial justice and social justice issues throughout history and many educators do not take advantage of these kinds of books. Entire curriculums can be built out of these books and the benefit of using this type of material in the curriculum is not only that this work can be teach science, but teach students that the work done by BIPOC scientists is still of use today and will continue to be used in the future, which encourages a lot more of these students to pursue science in the future.

Application:

One of the most significant examples of this kind of interdisciplinary material is the book The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot. As a biology-focused science educator, I would distribute this book to all of my students. It has the potential to pique any student's interest, whether they are taking the class truly out of love for science, or whether they are being forced to take it because of a family member or whether they are a BIPOC student, trying to find a place in science. Henrietta's cells have led to great discoveries and continue to live even decades after her death in labs all around the world. This is just one of the examples of the many books out there that can be used in this way. I know it will be difficult to teach books, being a science educator, but I would collaborate with English and History educators to learn how they teach books. I would pick out several main themes from these books, create discussion questions for each chapter, find supplemental readings on science topics that relate to the book, and also keep track of labs that I could conduct alongside the reading to bring to life what the scientists did in the books. Keeping the Henrietta Lacks example in mind, I would design supplementary questions and labs surrounding cell culturing, cancer growth, tissues, and genetic codes. Although it's not possible to actually grow human cells in the lab, there can be a lab centered around yeast culturing for example. For the lesson on cancer, we would talk about mitosis and the specific type of cancer that Henrietta had as well as how cancer works. Then I would proceed to cover cell function and division and discuss with the students the bioethical issues of having Henrietta's genome published and what that could have meant for her family. What this kind of teaching does is that is humanizes science, and depicts it as a part of the human experience, not a subject that is meant to be learnt disconnected from human emotion. This type of teaching gives a name to the cells that these students are learning about, and not just any name, but the name of a black woman who the science field could not have progressed without.

Strategy:

This article provides further insight into how educators can find ways to teach anti-racist science. Before anti-racism can be taught, it is important to do some reflection and dismantle and conscious (and unconscious) racism that pervades our minds, even if it is unintentional. It is also important to learn about the families and the communities that your students come from and incorporate this into their learning processes. There are students that come from families that have different family structures, traditions, and practices that are very different from those of the typical Western family.  When it comes to having expectations from students, it is important that each and every one of your students is challenged equally, not by the color of their skin. If a student struggles with these challenges, it's important to help them work towards meeting these goals. It is also important to use curricula and texts that feature scientists of ALL races, even if most of the students in your class are of one majority race/ethnicity. This helps them understand the complexities of other races/ethnicities beyond their own. It is important to understand and explain to students that at many times, science curricula tends to hide injustices done to certain groups of people and can also perpetuate stereotypes.

Application:

The ability to self reflect is easier said than done, but it is possible through conducting repeated reflection exercises using data about BIPOC. In order to learn about the families of my students, I would conduct interest inventory, interviews and even autobiography-related activities so that my students can tell their stories and share who they are. I would also incorporate media and literature based on their interests to supplement the science concepts that I teach. For example, I would use movie clips from movies such as Something the Lord Made or Hidden Figures. I would try to find nonfiction sources that feature black doctors, scientists and scholars (Katherine Johnson, Neil deGrasse Tyson, Mae Jemison). I would also tell stories (tied to relevant texts and media) of interesting advancements in science related to BIPOC to engage my students. In terms of holding high expectations, I would make sure that every one of my students is being challenged equally by fostering learning through high-level tasks such as engineering design challenges and discussion questions that challenge them to analyze and interpret instead of just recalling information. I would conduct scientific debates and discussions on controversial topics in science to pique my students' interest in science and also help them learn how to communicate science efficiently. When it comes to representing scientists of all backgrounds and races, I would have professionals from non dominant cultures come into my class and talk to my students, conduct expert panels and even have virtual field trips to places with scientists with diverse staff. I would celebrate accomplished science BIPOC all throughout the year, not just during designated heritage months. I think it's really important for students to see diverse representations of scientists so that they do not develop the stereotype that only certain groups of people can excel in STEM. I will also acknowledge through my lesson plans the idea idea that race is not biological and that race is not determined by genetics (only a tiny fraction of genetic material actually contributes to what we have socially deemed "race."  I will also discuss with my students that many of the scientific advances made have also been at the expense of non-consenting Black people and the implications of this in terms of racial justice.

Listen to Short Wave's podcast --->

Strategy:

In this podcast, we hear Madeline Sofia and shortwave reporter Emily Kwong talk about the question "Does genius absolve racism?" It is obvious that a lot of white scientists in our textbooks receive a lot of fame for their brilliance, but they are also had the most racist and eugenicist views that are rarely ever mentioned in science textbooks. They discuss the antibody engineer Esther Odekunle's lack of confidence being in the science field after seeing that not many of her people were able to succeed in this field, mostly because the science field is very much dominated by white males. To answer the question of what do you do with the racist part of science, Madeline and Emily went looking for K-12 educators that specialized in the intersection between science and racial justice teaching. Among these is Letimicia Fears who they describe as the real life "Ms. Frizzle" and she goes into classrooms explaining the dangers of work like the Tuskegee Syphilis studies. She is essentially introducing bioethics as an important part of these kids' curriculum. Letimicia's theory is that if these kids see how these scientists have messed up, they will take an interest in pursuing science in order to create some sort of positive change in the science field. Letimicia tries to name drop as many black scientists as possible as a means to help these students envision a future as a scientist beyond just being a doctor or a dentist. It is also important that these students see themselves as scientists. It is important that these students are able to develop their own opinions about science and are able to think critically about science. Gretchen Kraig-Turner, another science educator incorporated the Innocence Project into her curriculum which is a group of people who uses DNA to help people who were wrongfully incarcerated. The students were to write songs and poetry as odes to those who were wrongfully convicted, which humanizes science to the point that these BIPOC students feel emotionally connected to it. 

Application:

I think that before I can start applying social justice mechanisms in the classroom, it is important to be able to reflect on myself and any racial biases I may have developed over the years. I also think that it is important to help BIPOC students build an emotional connection to science because they are so underrepresented in the STEM field. According to the podcast, a lot of these students would feel more inclined to have a future in science if they built an emotional connection to it at a younger age. I would do my best to make sure that this is possible by using methods such as the Innocence Project that Gretchen Kraig-Turner utilized with her students. Not only would it help these students humanize science enough to build an emotional connection to it, but it would help BIPOC students learn how to communicate science and therefore be more inclined to pursue it in the future.

Strategy:

In this TED Talk, Roni Ellington talks about her story. She talks about what it is like being tracked as a black student and how when she was moved to an upper level, there was a drastic change in the STEM education that she received. She started to see herself as a different person just by having the opportunity to engage in rigorous STEM education. She saw how she was considered special because she happened to be a black woman that was able to make it in STEM. It then became her life's work to examine what factors impacted "marginalized" students persistence and success in STEM disciplines and careers. The first step is to make it so that all students can pursue these subjects that are deemed "hard" even when they become rough and difficult to understand. Ellington states that teachers must be more than content experts, they must be agents of change. They must see themselves as vehicles for students lives to change. They need to be seen as more than students that learn science, but actual humans that are meant to change lives in the future. She mentions that there have to be outside opportunities present for students to pursue to truly foster their curiosity for science. No student can be forced to believe they are science thinkers, they need to believe that themselves, and the curriculum has to be designed to achieve this.

Application:

One of the most valuable pieces of information that can be taken away from this video is that BIPOC students need the chance to cultivate their love for science outside of the classroom. In order to do this, I would take my students to do field work in urban communities to learn about how ecology and environment can be affected by environmental racism and to help these students develop a connection to science without being in the classroom at all times. I would also try my best to collect resources such as internship and volunteer opportunities and advertise them to all the students in my class to encourage them to apply so that they can develop an understanding of how science is applied in the real world. This can be beneficial to minority groups who have not seen what they learned applied in the real world yet and they could use these opportunities as the push they need to step into the science field. Another important takeaway I had from this talk was that students need to believe they are science thinkers themselves, they can not force it upon themselves. I think that this requires getting to know each and every student in my class and developing science-based questions that challenge them to think but can be interpreted differently by all the students in my class. For example, instead of asking students to read about an experiment and answer questions about the experiment on a test, it would be much more beneficial to them to design their own experiment from what they have learned, and applaud them for their innovative thinking. This would help BIPOC students see themselves as science thinkers because they are not forced to just recite information that they have learned from the past.