Equity in Science Learning

Annie Gbaford
Tch Lrn 371: Elementary Science
Dr. Fick
Equity in Science Learning
What is the area of focus?
An area I would like to focus on in my science classroom is argumentation, modeling,

interpreting data, and communicating and teaching this to a diverse group of students. STEM
has lacked equity and diversity in many aspects of race, and sex. People of color and women
have often been excluded and overlooked in science. An area of science learning that I would
like to focus on in my future science classroom is infusing students' culture into our science
learning. Our lives' cultural experiences shape the way that we learn because we look at the
physical world through these cultural lenses. Our culture, religion, race, and socioeconomic
status play a huge role in education. The cultural lens we see our lives through plays a huge
role in science education because students' lives will heavily impact their prior knowledge on
certain scientific phenomena. For example, students who are more religious may have never
been exposed to certain phenomena like evolution. They may not use words like evolved or
even be aware of these scientific phenomena, and possibly don’t believe that this phenomenon
is true. That's why in my science classroom I will make it a priority to gauge my students'
background knowledge and experience on science topics we would learn in class. To promote
equity in science learning we need to understand where all our students are at/ coming from so
when we conduct experiments and have class discussions, they can relate to experiences they
have in school and outside of school and make their learning come full circle. I think using
this approach will be the start of infusing their culture into my science classroom. Another
way that I’m going to infuse students' culture is by asking probing questions to gauge
students' understanding and overall knowledge of the topic. For example, if my student says
something about a science phenomenon that is incorrect. I should ask them why they believe
that and what pieces of evidence they used to get to that conclusion then. This helps me know
exactly what the misconceptions are so I can teach them these science concepts to build on
their correct prior knowledge. I think using this method is one of the best ways to create
equity in science learning because when I as a teacher know exactly what my students don’t
know, need to know, want to know, and what they think they know I can change the way that
I’m delivering instructions to this unit. When we separate science and students' everyday life
they will eventually begin disconnecting and struggle to engage with science learning.
According to Schwarz, C., Passmore, C., & Reiser, B. J. (2016) “For the most part, students
from these communities’ experience science instruction as disconnected from their
experiences in life, their questions about the world, and the concerns of their communities.
Not surprisingly, they disengage from science in large numbers”. Students often become
disengaged in learning when their community experiences are completely left out of their
classroom experiences. Students need to be able to use their real-world experiences to that of
what they are learning in the classroom.
What readings from class support this as a change towards high-quality equitable
teaching?
I think that most of the readings that we did in this class support my plans to change
towards a high-quality teaching, but I will list a few of my favorites that we read in class.
These are materials that I will be going back to and reference in my future science classroom.
The first reading being Helping Students Make Sense of the World Using Next Generation
Science and Engineering Practices by Schwarz, C., Passmore, C., & Reiser, B. J. (2016).
Chapter 3 is the most helpful resource for creating high-quality equitable teaching. This
chapter discusses the history of inequality in science education and dives into how we can
better instruct a science classroom to make the lessons more inclusive and accessible to all our
students. For example, these chapters share how we can include our students' cultures into our
lessons when we did our stem lesson plan my partner and I used this idea and had students
share plants they have in their household or neighborhoods. This is so that they could make
connections to plant’s they already had in their house and see around their neighborhoods. We
did this so that students will be able to make connections to their everyday lives and a science
phenomenon This book shines a light on inequity in science teaching but also provides
solutions and ways to correct these problems. Another resource that supports equity in science
learning is Biased: Uncovering the hidden prejudice that shapes what we see, think, and do.
This book identifies many biases that teachers may have and talks about the experience of
children who are met with teachers who have these implicit biases against them. The book
shines a light on how these deep-rooted prejudices can negatively impact your students and
their ability to learn in your classroom. I think this book all future teachers should read and
discuss because many times we don’t know that we have these deep-rooted biases, and it
could be the reason that some students hate science and are not able to learn properly because
we’re failing to meet their instructional needs due to their biases. Therefore, I think this book
supports me in change towards high quality equitable science instruction.
Why is this an important aspect of teaching practice to reconsider with an equity lens?
How does this area traditionally lead to inequitable science learning?
As I said earlier in this paper an important aspect of teaching to look at through an equity
lens is explicit instruction because many students will be learning through a cultural lens. All
aspects of their life will influence their prior knowledge they bring into the classroom, their
beliefs, and their learning styles to me teaching with an equity lens means looking at teaching
in a way to provide students with specific support for each student according to their specific
needs. For example, in my science classroom If 80% of my students were familiar with the
names in the process of photosynthesis because their parents or siblings are scientists, or they
had been introduced to that earlier. I would turn my focus to the students who’ve never heard
of these photosynthesis terms and break it down layer by layer to them. This is so that my
students who are new to this subject can be on an equal playing field with the 80% students
who know. Also, so that all my students have the same amount of knowledge when we go into
a new subject. This is a way of promoting equity because although many of my students know
this information, I’m giving this knowledge to the minority that don’t do that aren’t on the
same level as the rest of my students when we begin our photosynthesis unit. Sometimes
teachers assume students' prior knowledge on certain subjects, and this is where inequitable
learning can take place. To promote equitable learning, we must give students a chance to tell
us what they know and not just assume that all students are exposed to the same things outside
of our classroom.
What does an equity lens help you to notice about this aspect of teaching?
An equity lens helps me notice that even though I think my instructions are clear and
easy for all my students to understand this is not the case. Students are not blank canvases
when they enter my classroom, I need to take their life experiences and culture into account
when teaching. Therefore, in my science classroom I'm going to do my best to incorporate
probing questions. This will help me dissect students' thinking and understanding of the
science process and what my students need to learn to be successful in school.
How will you approach making changes in this aspect of your teaching to support equity?
An aspect of science teaching that I would change my approach to support equity is the
way I engage my students. For engagement in my science classroom, I would incorporate
what my students like into my classroom. For example, for a food web assignment I would
have my students do this assignment on their favorite animal. This would keep them interested
and they would bring more background knowledge on material they’re familiar with. Another
example being that they do the stem experiment with their favorite plant/ flower from around
their home or neighborhood. They would better engage in my science classroom and also, I
would be able to support each student equitably.

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Annie Gbaford

Tch Lrn 371: Elementary Science

Equity in Science Learning

What is the area of focus?

An area I would like to focus on in my science classroom is argumentation, modeling,

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