What IS Social Justice Teaching in the Science Classroom?

Virtual Miniseries

June 5, 12, 19, 26

Join NSTA for this special four-part, interactive, virtual miniseries, which is jointly hosted by the Association for Multicultural Science Education (AMSE) and NSTA’s Committee on Multicultural / Equity in Science Education. Scheduled throughout the month of June, this miniseries is your source for resources and strategies for motivating and enhancing the participation of traditionally underrepresented students in science through the lens of equity and social justice.

The one-price registration includes attendance to all four (4) parts of the miniseries. You can opt to attend all four of the 2.5-hour Saturday sessions; drop in on one (or more sessions), or view them as your schedule permits. The last 30 minutes of each session will be a roundtable discussion for participants to ask additional questions and/or share their own experiences and stories.

Register Today

Day 1

Part 1

Critical Affinity Spaces for Science Educators

Saturday, June 5

11:30 AM–2:00 PM EST

Teaching science with a critical lens that is aware of the dynamics of racism and that exposes the hidden and master narratives may elicit the practitioner to be often displaced. This session aims to affirm that racial / social justice approaches to science teaching are needed and how these approaches necessitate spaces that aid in cultivating and galvanizing these frameworks to science. Affinity spaces centered in racial / social justice praxis help educators to reflect on pedagogical practices; promote a sense of collective rejuvenation, unhinging feelings of being the "only one"; and inspire more progressive anti-racist science curricula. Affinity spaces also help cultivate valuable friendships that are rooted in an understanding of why it is important that we fight for the humanity of all.

Keynote Speakers

Jason Foster

NBCT (National Board Certified Teacher) in Biology at Evanston Township High School, Evanston, IL; and PhD Student in Math and Science Education, The University of Illinois at Chicago

Currently in his third year as a PhD student in Math and Science Education at The University of Illinois at Chicago, Jason Foster has been teaching science for 16 years. He began teaching at Antioch High School in Illinois and then transferred to Niles West High School where he taught for 11 years. He is now at Evanston High School where he has been teaching for two years. Jason tends to focus his educational lens on anti-racist pedagogy, BlackCrit, and CRT (Critical Race Theory). Currently, he is applying these approaches to how Black educators create different modalities in order to survive in contested white educational spaces.

Jason Foster

Michael K. Nocella

Science Teacher, Adlai E. Stevenson High School, Lincolnshire, IL; and PhD Student in Math and Science Education, The University of Illinois at Chicago

Michael Nocella is in his third year as a PhD student in Math and Science Education at The University of Illinois at Chicago. He is in his 10th year of teaching science, having served seven of those at Niles West High School, and he is currently at Adlai E. Stevenson High School. Michael's research and pedagogical interests center on anti-racist science teaching practices, critical affinity / solidarity spaces for educational staff, critical multimodality, student-led inquiry pedagogical frameworks, as well as the role of social transformation with respect to racial / sociopolitical identity self-work of [white] educators in working to become more anti-racist in personal and professional contexts.

Michael Nocella

Day 2

Part 2

Designing for Rightful Presence in K–12 Science Teaching and Learning

Pushing Beyond Equity as Inclusion

Saturday, June 12

11:30 AM–2:00 PM EST

In this seminar, we provide an overview of Rightful Presence, a guiding framework for social justice science teaching that pushes beyond equity as inclusion. Instead of merely extending a static set of rights to students, Rightful Presence orients the field toward new forms of teaching that restructure learning opportunities so that the lives of all youth are made visible and integral to science, especially those made historically invisible in STEM through systemic racism and heteropatriarchy.

Keynote Speakers

Angela Calabrese Barton

Professor, Educational Studies Dept., University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI

Angela Calabrese Barton is a professor in STEM Education and the Learning Sciences in the Department of Educational Studies at the University of Michigan. Her research focuses on issues of equity and justice in STEM education in school and community settings. She studies the design of learning environments, including pedagogies and approaches in support of justice-centered expansive learning outcomes such as critical agency, identity work, and social transformation (as grounded within expanding disciplinary expertise). Angela also designs methodologies for embracing authentic “research + practice” work that attends to practitioner and youths' voices and critically engages the goals of equity and justice. A former chemistry teacher, she has also designed and taught community-based STEM for over two decades in homeless shelters and community organizations in different cities in the U.S. Angela has served as a WT Grant Foundation Distinguished Fellow and she is currently a Fellow of the American Education Research Association. She is currently co-editor of the American Educational Research Journal and is the former co-editor of the Journal of Research in Science Teaching. Angela’s work has been published in many journals, including Science Scope, Science & Children, Educational Researcher, the American Educational Research Journal, the Journal of the Learning Sciences, Journal of Research in Science Education, and Science Education.

Angela Barton

Edna Tan

Professor, Teacher Education and Higher Education (TEHE) Department, University of North Carolina, Greensboro

Edna Tan is a professor of science education at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Her collaborative research investigates what constitutes equitable and consequential science and engineering learning for historically underrepresented, minoritized youth across learning contexts and over time. She investigates how systemic injustice is made manifest in local practices and the related impact of such oppressive local practices on youths’ science and engineering learning experiences. Her work is also focused on understanding how youth’s experiences across science-related settings and across time can be studied and understood as holistic experiences, rather than siloed in particular formal or informal settings. Edna’s research has been published in many journals, including the American Educational Research Journal, Teachers College Record, the Journal of the Learning Sciences, Journal of Research in Science Education, and Science Education.

Edna Tan

Day 3

Part 3

Toward Field-Based Science Education That Contributes to Just, Sustainable, and Culturally Thriving Worlds

Saturday, June 19

11:30 AM–2:00 PM EST

The complex intertwining of human systems and natural systems is increasingly visible as societies are grappling with profound issues like racial justice, public health, and economics, amidst and shaped by rapidly shifting ecological systems and changing climates. How should we engage in science education given these realities? What forms of pedagogical practice cultivate just forms of learning and teaching? For the last two decades, Drs. Bang and Tzou have been co-designing models of field-based science education with families, communities, and educators that focus on instruction guided by what we call “should we” questions, socio-ecological decision-making, and change-making for themselves, their families, and communities as central to scientific inquiry and learning. In this talk they present key features of the models they have been designing, implementing, and studying, particularly with respect to engaging historically underserved students. Further, they exemplify these features across two broader design research projects. The first project is focused multi-age learning environments with Indigenous students. The second is focused on preK–3 students and teachers in urban multilingual environments. The workshop will utilize examples from classroom implementation, student work and interviews, and data from family engagement.

Keynote Speakers

Megan Bang

Professor of Learning Sciences, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL

Megan Bang (Ojibwe and Italian decent) is a professor of the Learning Sciences and Psychology at Northwestern University. She studies the dynamics of culture, learning, and development with a focus on the complexities of navigating multiple meaning systems in creating and implementing more effective and just science learning environments. Megan conducts research in schools, informal learning environments, and community contexts. She currently serves on the Board of Science Education at the National Academy of Sciences, and NSF’s Education and Human Resources Advisory Committee and NSF’s Advisory Committee for Environmental Research and Education.

Megan Bang

Carrie Tzou

Professor of Science Education, School of Educational Studies; and and Director, Goodlad Institute for Educational Renewal, University of Washington, Bothell

Currently a professor at the University of Washington Bothell, Carrie Tzou’s academic interests include understanding issues of place, power, race, and identity in environmental and science education through cross-setting ethnography and design-based research; and applying sociocultural theories of learning to the design of science and environmental science learning environments to study issues of culture, agency, and identity as connected to science learning.

Carrie Tzou

Day 4

Part 4

Defining Social Justice in Our Science Classroom

Saturday, June 26

11:30 AM–2:00 PM EST

As we journey together to define social justice in the science classroom, the finale to our March miniseries will take the opportunity to reflect, define, and plan strategic actions to implement within our realms of control, in order to introduce equitable practices of social justice resulting in accountability for all stakeholders.

Keynote Speakers

Alicia Conerly

Principal, Monticello Elementary School, Monticello, MS

Alicia Conerly is director of NSTA’s Multicultural / Equity in Science Education Committee. Alicia has worked in education for over 12 years. She is a 2015 Shell Urban Science Educator Development Award Recipient, 2016 Shell Lab Challenge Grand Prize Award Recipient, and 2017 Mississippi Science Teachers Association Outstanding Informal Science Educator Award Recipient. In 2017, Alicia founded PUSH 4 Science Educational Services, LLC., and has served on several science award review panels, both statewide and nationally. She has also served as both a mentee and mentor for the Smithsonian in conjunction with Shell at their annual STEM Education Summit. Alicia is also the first African American administrator at Monticello Elementary School.

Alicia Conerly

Sharon Delesbore

Assistant Principal, Hightower High School, Missouri City, TX; and President, Association for Multicultural Science Education (AMSE)

Sharon Delesbore (“Dr. D”) is president of the Association for Multicultural Science Education (AMSE), an Alliance of Affiliates (AoA) governance of the National Science Teaching Association (NSTA), and founder of Science Mama Enterprise. As a 20-year secondary school administrator, science instructional specialist, and middle school science teacher, Dr. D. has never lost her spirit of advocacy for equitable science instruction for all students of color, multicultural backgrounds, and varying economic status and opportunities. Her leadership within AMSE helps to provide educators with opportunities to present sessions at NSTA’s national and area conferences, focusing on topics of equity, diversity, inclusion, and access for all students desiring to learn about science. AMSE seeks to promote curriculum, instructional, and leadership development in science education with diverse teachers who educate diverse students.

Sharon Delesbore