Episode 059: Justice‐Centered Science Pedagogy with Daniel Morales-Doyle

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Summary:

Daniel Morales-Doyle talks with us today about the powerful impact of a justice-centered science pedagogy. He gives examples of what this looks like throughout different grade bands. He specifically shares a high school chemistry unit he taught in Chicago. In the show notes, find his research and similar articles of the impact of justice centered science pedagogy.

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Show Highlights

• 01:30 - 05:30    Introduction to Daniel and justice-centered science pedagogy
• 05:30 - 08:30    Examples of justice-centered science pedagogy in the classroom
• 08:30 - 14:00    The impact of justice-centered science pedagogy for the students
• 14:00 - 24:30    How NGSS does (and doesn't) promote equity in science and the ideology behind NGSS
• 24:30 - 36:30    More examples of justice-centered science units
• 36:45 - 37:45    Final words of advice from Daniel

 Show Quotes 

"I think of justice-centered science pedagogy as an approach to teaching science that assumes that inequity in science education is the most important problem in science education but also that it's not an isolated or technical problem. Instead it's a deeply rooted historical and political problem that we can't tinker our way out of. So it assumes that we can only work for equity in science education if our teaching and our work is aligned or connected with broader struggles for social justice"  [02:05-02:45] Daniel Morales-Doyle

"It's a hopeful outlook. We believe in the power of young people to work with those of us who aren't so young anymore in intergenerational ways to imagine better futures. And so the work of justice-centered science pedagogy is really about how does learning science factor into that?" [14:00 - 14:15] Daniel Morales-Doyle

"Obviously probably the most urgent social justice science issue that we could take up in our curriculum would be that of climate change. But I really want to push science teachers to think about climate justice and that those least responsible for climate change are also the ones most vulnerable to its impacts. And that climate isn't a technical problem and can't be solved by technical means. It's a problem that defies disciplinary boundaries  and is going to require complex social political and scientific interventions." [35:00 - 35:35] Daniel Morales-Doyle

"There's always a danger when we take up sociopolitical issues in science class of communicating a technocratic ideology to the students where they think we can science or engineer our way out of things. And we can't science or engineer our way out of things, especially things that science and engineering are at the root of. We have to seek solutions that are sociopolitical in nature. It's a thin line that we walk between helping students see the power of science to transform our world and also helping them to see the limitations and the ways in which we have to be engaged members of our communities first and foremost. " [35:35 - 36:10] Daniel Morales-Doyle

Links

• Troubling Troubled Waters in Elementary Science: Conceptions of Water [Justice] in the Era of Flint

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