The meaning beyond the words: How language, race, & culture impact science teaching & learning
Start time
October 21, 2021 08:00 AM
End time
October 21, 2021 09:00 AM
Presented By
SABER
Location
Online
Workshop Worth
1
Workshop Link
Description
The meaning beyond the words: How language, race, & culture impact science teaching & learning
Bryan Brown, PhD, Stanford University
This presentation explores how race, culture, and language intersect to create the condition of contemporary learning.
For years, research on the language of classrooms explored how the way we say things impacts students’ sense of
belonging. Despite this research, STEM education has failed to adequately explore how issues of race, language, and
culture shape the outcomes of teaching and learning in science. Through a sequence of research, this presentation
explores the theoretical and pragmatic aspects of this dilemma. From a theoretical perspective, the talk will explore the
Language-Identity dilemma. As students learn, the way academic language is taught to them can present a cognitive
and cultural conflict. From a cognitive perspective, if science is taught without respect to the implications of how
language is learned, students can be misunderstood and misunderstand the teacher’s complex discourse. From a
cultural conflict perspective, students may feel they are cultural outsiders when the language of the classroom positions
them as outsiders. The presentation provides an overview of a series of qualitative and quantitative experiments that
document the realities of this complex interaction.
This presentation explores how race, culture, and language intersect to create the condition of contemporary learning.
For years, research on the language of classrooms explored how the way we say things impacts students’ sense of
belonging. Despite this research, STEM education has failed to adequately explore how issues of race, language, and
culture shape the outcomes of teaching and learning in science. Through a sequence of research, this presentation
explores the theoretical and pragmatic aspects of this dilemma. From a theoretical perspective, the talk will explore the
Language-Identity dilemma. As students learn, the way academic language is taught to them can present a cognitive
and cultural conflict. From a cognitive perspective, if science is taught without respect to the implications of how
language is learned, students can be misunderstood and misunderstand the teacher’s complex discourse. From a
cultural conflict perspective, students may feel they are cultural outsiders when the language of the classroom positions
them as outsiders. The presentation provides an overview of a series of qualitative and quantitative experiments that
document the realities of this complex interaction.
SABER - A Call to Action: Striving towards inclusion in academic biology
An initiative continuing in fall 2021 and spring 2022, which will be sponsored by the Society for the Advancement of Biology Education Research (SABER) and will be focused on promoting awareness, understanding and commitment to change academic biology environments to be more inclusive. All 1-hour sessions will be virtual and administered through Zoom; sessions will be recorded and posted on the SABER website below this. This series will be co-sponsored by Arizona State University’s HHMI Inclusive Excellence Project, the SEISMIC Collaboration, and the ASU RISE Center.
RSVP for the workshop with the CLSE here.
Following the workshop, email Erica Szeyller.1 to confirm your attendance for the full event time. If you were not able to attend the full event, email Erica Szeyller.1 to discuss the possibility of 5001 course points.
