Abstract

Heterogeneity is fundamental to learning and when leveraged in instruction, can benefit racially minoritized children. However, finding ways to leverage heterogeneity toward disciplinary teaching is a formidable challenge and teachers can benefit from targeted support to recognize heterogeneity in STEM, and its relationship to race and racism in disciplinary teaching. These data draw from a nine-day professional development seminar for secondary teachers to promote heterogeneity in STEM learning (n = 12). Drawing on analyses of lesson plans developed by teachers during the seminar, and subsequent video analyses of small group discussions, we present a case of four teachers debating heterogeneity in science. The exchange is significant because it draws into relief the ideological and emotional terrain of disturbing the racial hierarchy in which Western Modern Science (WMS) is steeped, and its implications for the education of racially minoritized youth. In the focus interaction, a dynamic emerged where three teachers exalted WMS, while the fourth grappled with how cultural heterogeneity has or could matter to her science teaching. Drawing on the constructs of racial-ideological micro-contestation and racial microaggressions, this analysis illustrates three important dimensions to the design of professional learning for STEM teachers that center race: (1) how discipline-specific discussions can uniquely surface the latent racial and ideological meanings teachers associate with STEM; (2) the centrality of teachers’ storied knowledge in grappling with heterogeneity; and (3) the interplay of micro-contestation and microaggressions in understanding and anticipating the experiences of minoritized teachers when debating issues of race, disciplinarity, and teaching. 

摘要

异质性是学习的基础，当在教学中加以利用时，异质性可以使少数种族的儿童受益。但是，寻找利用异质性进行学科教学的方法是一个艰巨的挑战，教师可以受益于有针对性的支持，以认识到STEM中的异质性及其在学科教学中与种族和种族主义的关系。这些数据来自为期9天的中学教师专业发展研讨会，目的是促进STEM学习中的异质性（n = 12）。根据研讨会期间教师制定的课程计划分析，以及随后的小组讨论视频分析，我们介绍了一个案例，其中有四位教师辩论了科学的异质性。交流之所以重要，是因为它缓解了困扰西方现代科学（WMS）的种族等级制度的思想和情感领域，以及对种族少数群体青年教育的影响。在焦点互动中，出现了一种动态，其中三名教师崇尚WMS，而第四名则在努力解决文化异质性对她的科学教学的影响或影响。借鉴种族意识形态微竞赛和种族微侵略的结构，这种分析说明了以种族为中心的STEM教师的专业学习设计的三个重要方面：（1）特定学科的讨论如何独特地展现与STEM相关的潜在种族和意识形态含义；（2）教师故事知识在应对异质性方面的中心地位；（3）在辩论和讨论种族，纪律和教学问题时，微观竞赛和微观侵略在理解和预期被弱化的老师的经历中的相互作用。