More Like this

1. White intellectual alibies in use: A critical analysis of preservice teachers’ rhetoric.

   Carlsruh, R. (January 2021, Proceedings of the Eleventh International Mathematics Education and Society Conference)

   null (Ed.)

   The demographic disconnect in the U.S. between the majority white, female teacher workforce and the diverse students they serve perpetuates white supremacy in various ways. These relationships can be especially problematic in mathematics settings, where race issues are often disguised behind discourses of neutrality, intelligence, and meritocracy. To further understand how white supremacy is enacted in educational spaces, we applied Leonardo’s theory of “white intellectual alibis” to critically analyze interview data involving a pair of white-identifying preservice teachers engaging with novel hypothetical scenarios. Findings show that participants utilized various alibis that reinforced racist narratives and silenced possible antiracist conversations. Implications for teacher education are discussed. 

   more » « less
2. Engaging with anti-deficit teaching through a student interview: An adaptation of the funds of knowledge project

   Adiredja, Aditya; Civil, Marta (July 2024, ICME15 Proceedings)

   We discuss a professional development activity that engaged university mathematics instructors with anti-deficit teaching with minoritized students in the US. Our year-long program focuses on anti-deficit teaching and inquiry-based learning in mathematics at the university level. One important component of the program is an instructor-led interview with one of the instructor’s students. This activity is inspired by Funds of Knowledge work wherein primary and secondary mathematics teachers conduct home visits to learn about resources from the students’ lives and their families. Using data from two cohorts of participants we argue that the instructor-led interview within our project similarly humanized students, challenged deficit narratives about them, while also revealing their personal and community resources. Instructors learned about minoritized students’ experiences in higher education in the US. These individual stories also become great fodder for instructors’ group discussions and reflections about inequities and nuances in the experiences of minoritized students. We conclude with a methodological discussion about the interview as a professional development activity. 

   more » « less
3. Families Matter: Family Learning as a Central Component to Equity in STEM Education

   Pattison, S; Ramos_Montañez, S; Tolbert_Smith, D; Cardella, M; Dou, R; Cian, H; Calabrese_Barton, A; Sedawi, W; Tan, E; López_Burgos, V; et al (March 2024, National Association for Research in Science Teaching (NARST))

   In this related paper set, our goal was to advance a more holistic vision of equity and social justice in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education by drawing attention to an often-overlooked social asset for learners—their families. While families are usually secondary in discussions of equity in STEM education, a growing number of researchers have highlighted the need to consider and partner with families to establish anti-racist, asset-based educational practices in both informal and formal learning environments. In this related paper set, the first two papers directly challenge the ways deficit-based perceptions of families from historically marginalized communities undermine the critical role that family members play in supporting youth STEM engagement, learning, and identity development. In the second two papers, investigators examine how educators and researchers can use insights from families to inform the design of learning environments inside and outside of school. Collectively, the four papers emphasize the critical importance of working with families to address inequities in STEM education and demonstrate the unique opportunities for envisioning new learning possibilities through these partnerships. 

   more » « less
4. Families Matter: Family Learning as a Central Component to Equity in STEM Education

   Pattison, S; Ramos_Montañez, S; Tolbert_Smith, D; Cardella, M; Dou, R; Cian, H; Calabrese_Barton, A; Sedawi, W; Tan, E; López_Burgos, V; et al (March 2024, National Association for Research in Science Teaching (NARST))

   In this related paper set, our goal was to advance a more holistic vision of equity and social justice in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education by drawing attention to an often-overlooked social asset for learners—their families. While families are usually secondary in discussions of equity in STEM education, a growing number of researchers have highlighted the need to consider and partner with families to establish anti-racist, asset-based educational practices in both informal and formal learning environments. In this related paper set, the first two papers directly challenge the ways deficit-based perceptions of families from historically marginalized communities undermine the critical role that family members play in supporting youth STEM engagement, learning, and identity development. In the second two papers, investigators examine how educators and researchers can use insights from families to inform the design of learning environments inside and outside of school. Collectively, the four papers emphasize the critical importance of working with families to address inequities in STEM education and demonstrate the unique opportunities for envisioning new learning possibilities through these partnerships. 

   more » « less
5. K12 Computer Science Teachers' Attitudes Toward a Foundational Assumption of Ethnocomputing

   https://doi.org/10.1145/3641554.3701891  

   Lachney, Michael; Jee, Hyein; Lapentina, Andrew; Hill, Richard; Allen_Kuyenga, Madison C; Yadav, Aman (February 2025, ACM)

   Ethnocomputing describes the study of computational ideas and thinking as they appear in the artifacts, epistemologies, designs, and practices of temporally and spatially situated communities (e.g., from computational scientists to textile artisans). It is also about how such communities embed their beliefs and values within computational artifacts. One outcome of ethnocomputing research is the demonstration of how Indigenous and diasporic communities have dynamic computational histories and innovations that are relevant to computer science and computer science education today. From lessons on e-textiles and Native American botanical knowledge to visual programming environments that reveal the algorithms of cornrow braiding in the Black diaspora, this has allowed for anti-racist challenges to white supremacist myths of primitivism in primary and secondary computer science education. While there are studies about how ethnocomputing tools and lessons shape children’s attitudes toward and knowledge of computing, there is no research on what computer science teachers think about one of ethnocomputing’s foundational assumptions: computational ideas and thinking are embedded within Indigenous and vernacular artifacts, epistemologies, designs, and practices. This paper reports findings from interviews with 14 K12 computer science teachers who had been exposed to ethnocomputing educational technologies and activities. From our qualitative analyses, we found that most (n=12) teachers believed that Indigenous and/or vernacular artisans think computationally. We detail their lines of reasoning before turning toward teachers who had ambivalent (n=1) or negative (n=1) positions about this assumption of ethnocomputing research. We discuss the implications of these findings for anti-racist K12 computer science teacher professional development. 

   more » « less