ERIC Number: EJ1467432
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2025-May
Pages: 18
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0036-8326
EISSN: EISSN-1098-237X
Available Date: 2025-01-30
Elder Black Women Science Teachers (Re)Member: An Examination of Science Identity Formation for Curious Young Black Girls
Alexis D. Riley1
Science Education, v109 n3 p947-964 2025
To specifically add to the literature on Black girls cultivating their science genius, Black women science teachers 'talk back' by sharing and developing their own narratives about being a science-curious young Black girl and how they use that experience to actualize their vision for liberatory science teaching. This international, qualitative study centers the (re)flections and pedagogical practices of five "elder" Black women science teachers who have surpassed and live within some of the confines of "science as white property." Utilizing an Endarkened Feminist Epistemology, participants engage in the art of (re)membering by writing poems to their former young Black girl self as a result of (re)flecting on creating the educational structures they wish they had experienced. The findings and discussion indicate that access to science professionals at home or a once-in-a-lifetime scholarship gave the participants the privilege to be curious. Despite these privileges these women had to persist through the culture of science that told them they didn't belong. Yet and still, they speak back with power and a determination to be seen and heard. This study provides implications for the curricular shifts and ideologies that honor Black girls in K-8 formal science spaces by merging liberatory teaching frameworks in science teaching and learning. Implications are also provided for professional development for Black women science teachers and other historically excluded groups, giving them space to (re)flect and to unearth their truth through reflecting on their history and collaborating with peers.
Descriptors: Females, African American Teachers, African American Students, Science Education, Science Teachers, Elementary Secondary Education, Self Concept, Sense of Belonging, Foreign Countries
Wiley. Available from: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030. Tel: 800-835-6770; e-mail: cs-journals@wiley.com; Web site: https://www.wiley.com/en-us
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Elementary Secondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: 1New York University, Steinhardt, New York, USA