In the United States, Black and Latinx students are underrepresented in STEM courses and careers due to a dearth of culturally relevant opportunities, which in turn are connected to broader issues of social justice. Place-based environmental civic science offers potential for addressing these issues by enabling students to apply their STEM learning to mitigate local environmental problems. By civic science we refer to science in which all citizens, not just experts, engage for the public good. In this paper, we report on a study in which we followed middle-and high-school science and math classes in urban schools serving racial/ethnic minoritized students as they engaged in an innovative contextualized curriculum—a place-based civic science model in which students work with STEM community partners to address an environmental issue in their community. We draw from students’ open-ended reflections on what they learned from participating in place-based environmental civic science projects that could help their communities. Thematic analyses of reflections collected from 291 students point to beliefs in the usefulness of science to effect community change. Students articulated the science they learned or used in the project and how it could affect their community; they made references to real world applications of science in their project work and made links between STEM and civic contributions. In their own words, the majority of students noted ways that STEM was relevant to their communities now or in the future; in addition, a subset of students expressed changes in their thinking about how they personally could apply science to positively impact their communities and the ties between STEM and social justice. Analyses also point to a sense of confidence and purpose students gained from using STEM learning for their goals of community contribution. Results of this study suggest that focusing on local place as a foundation for students’ STEM learning and linking that learning to the civic contributions they can make, cultivates students’ perceptions of how they can use science to benefit their communities. Findings also suggest that engaging students in place-based civic science work provides effective foundations for nurturing STEM interest and addressing the underrepresentation of youth of color in STEM.
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Urban youth and the environmental commons: rejuvenating civic engagement through civic science
Civic-science integrates science knowledge with civic practice but
differs from the citizen-science prototype by reframing science as
a public good and citizens as both recipients of and actors in
policy. We draw from our studies of a civic-science model in
which adolescents (majority African-American) collaborate with
teachers and community partners to mitigate an environmental
problem in their urban community. Based on students’ reflections
on what they learn from these projects we have developed
Environmental Commons theory, referring both to the natural
resources on which life depends and the public spaces where
people negotiate how they will care for those resources and for
the communities they inhabit. We contend that, to solve twentyfirst
century environmental and climate challenges, it is myopic to
rely on elite groups of scientific experts and policymakers.
Instead, a civic science skill set should be part of the preparation
of younger generations to be informed citizens and youth from
urban ethnic minority communities should be a high priority.
From an eco-justice standpoint, these groups bear a
disproportionate share of the burdens of environmental pollution
and climate change yet historically have been marginalized by
the institution of science and, until recently, relatively neglected
by environmental movements.
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- Award ID(s):
- 1759291
- NSF-PAR ID:
- 10331103
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Journal of Youth Studies
- ISSN:
- 1367-6261
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 1 to 17
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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Background Educating children and young people (CYP) from marginalized communities about environmental crises poses a unique dilemma as educators strive to prepare them to deal with the climate crisis without compounding the stressors and fear of an unlivable future many already face. We explored how place‐based civic science (PBCS) can provide opportunities to engage youth in environmental understanding and action through teamwork in which youth feel that they belong to a group larger than themselves and gain a sense of hope from working with others toward shared goals. We argue that combining PCBS pedagogies of collective action and collaborative learning spaces can help to buffer against distress as CYP grapple with global environmental crises.
Methods We drew from qualitative responses (student reflections and public presentations) of 486 6–12th graders (majority students of color) on what they learned from participating in PBCS projects. Projects involved egalitarian partnerships between adults from environmental organizations, teachers and student teams studying and acting together to mitigate problems and presenting their efforts in public venues.
Results Students’ qualitative responses revealed an identification with their team and its goal forged through the work, respect for their voice, belief in their capacity and confidence to take collective action and even enjoyment of working together to address community concerns.
Conclusions PBCS through collective learning/action in student teams and nonhierarchical intergenerational partnerships, and connections that CYP forge with organizations in the broader community, can help to build CYP’s agency and efficacy while addressing “emotionally heavy” issues such as climate change.
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- Free Publicly Accessible Full Text
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Accepted Manuscript1.0
- Journal Article:
- https://doi.org/10.1080/13676261.2021.1994132
