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This paper shares the process of designing a summer school science and technology class focused on youth advocacy and the development of youth rightful presence (Calabrese Barton & Tan, 2019) for students in Hawaii. We examine students’ changing perspectives and connections to STEM through their engagement in projects that center their own geography and life experiences. Findings indicate that youth sense of agency and autonomy were greatly improved by engaging in a space where science and technology were tools serving their own goals of protecting the island from further development and tourist abuse.
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“There is no room for me, for a Hawaiian, in science”: Rightful presence in community science
Abstract This paper shares the experiences, engagement, and struggle of one young Indigenous Hawaiian woman as she grapples with her sense of disconnect with STEM while serving as a land protector on the Mauna Kea, the home of the Thirty Meter Telescope being built over the objection of the local Indigenous community. I examine her changing perspectives and connections to STEM through her engagement during a summer school enrichment class focused on science and technology learning in service of community goals. Findings indicate that her sense of agency and autonomy were greatly improved by engaging in a space where science and technology were tools serving her goals of protecting the Mauna Kea from further development.
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- Award ID(s):
- 1942500
- PAR ID:
- 10465033
- Publisher / Repository:
- Wiley Blackwell (John Wiley & Sons)
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Journal of Research in Science Teaching
- Volume:
- 60
- Issue:
- 8
- ISSN:
- 0022-4308
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- p. 1879-1911
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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