Abstract
The intersection between science teacher education and multiculturalism has produced a considerable amount of research in the science education community. This paper suggests, according to current science teacher preparation literature, an initial set of multicultural science education standards for science methods course instructors of preservice teachers: dialogic conversation, authentic activities, reflexivity, ability, committed practice, and knowing. Included in the discussion of each standard is an activity or lesson that a science methods course instructor can implement.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
American Association for the Advancement of Science. (1989). Science for all Americans. Washington, DC: Author.
American Association for the Advancement of Science. (1993). Benchmarks for science literacy. New York: Oxford University Press.
Atwater, M. M. (1989). Including multicultural education in science education: Definitions, competencies, and activities. The Journal of Science Teacher Education, 1, 17–20.
Atwater, M. M. (1995a). The multicultural science classroom. Part I: Meeting the needs of a diverse student population. The Science Teacher, 62, 21–23.
Atwater, M. M. (1995b). The multicultural science classroom. Part II: Assisting all students with science acquisition. The Science Teacher, 62, 42–45.
Atwater, M. M. (1995c). The multicultural science classroom. Part III: Preparing science teachers to meet the challenges of multicultural education. The Science Teacher, 62, 26–29.
Atwater, M. M. (1996a). Social constructivism: Infusion into the multicultural science education research agenda. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 33, 821–837.
Atwater, M. M. (1996b). Teacher education and multicultural education: Implications for science education research. Journal of Science Teacher Education, 7, 1–21.
Barnes, M. B., & Barnes, L. W. (2005). Using inquiry process to investigate knowledge, skills, and perceptions of diverse learners: An approach to working with prospective and current science teachers. In A. J. Rodriguez & R. S. Kitchen (Eds.), Preparing mathematics and science teachers for diverse classrooms (pp. 61–86). Mahwah: Erlbaum.
Barton, A. C. (1998). Feminist science education. New York: Teachers College Press.
Barton, A. C. (1999). Crafting a multicultural science teacher education: A case study. Journal of Teacher Education, 50, 303–314.
Ben-Peretz, M. (2001). The impossible role of teacher educators in a changing world. Journal of Teacher Education, 52, 48–56.
Bianchini, J. A., Cavazos, L. M., & Helms, J. V. (2000). From professional lives to inclusive practices: Science teachers and scientists’ views of gender and ethnicity in science education. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 37, 511–547.
Carr, W., & Kemmis, S. (1986). Becoming critical; education, knowledge, and action research. Philadelphia: Falmer Press.
Carspecken, P. F., & Apple, M. (1992). Critical qualitative research: Theory, methodology, and practice. In M. D. LeCompte, W. L. Millory, & J. Pressle (Eds.), The handbook of qualitative research in education (pp. 507–553). New York: Academic Press.
Clough, M. P., & Clark, R. (1994). Cookbooks and constructivism. The Science Teacher, 61, 34–37.
Crawford, T. (2005). What counts as knowing: Constructing a communicative repertoire for student demonstration of knowledge in science. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 42, 139–165.
Crotty, M. (1998). The foundations of social research. Thousand Oak: Sage.
Czerniak, C. M., & Lumpe, A. T. (1996). Relationship between teacher beliefs and science education reform. Journal of Science Teacher Education, 7, 247–266.
Dana, T. M., Campbell, L. M., & Lunetta, V. N. (1997). Theoretical bases for reform in science teacher education. The Elementary School Journal, 97, 419–432.
Gay, G. (2004). Curriculum theory and multicultural education. In J. A. Banks & C. A. M. Banks (Eds.), Handbook of research on multicultural education (2nd ed., pp. 30–49). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Gerking, J. L. (Ed.). (2004). Multicultural science. [Entire Issue]. The Science Teacher, 71(2).
Gilbert, S. W. (1994). NSTA in NCATE: Some results from the folio reviews and direction for the future. Journal of Science Teacher Education, 5, 131–138.
Grant, C. A., & Ladson-Billings, G. (Eds.). (1997). Dictionary of multicultural education. Phoenix: The Oryx Press.
Howey, K. (1996). Designing effective and coherent teacher education programs. In J. Sikula (Ed.), Handbook of research on teacher education (2nd ed., pp. 143–170). New York: Macmillan.
International Society for Technology Education. (2002). NETS for teachers: Preparing teachers to use technology. Retrieved April 12, 2006, from http://cnets.iste.org/teachers/t_book.html.
Interstate New Teachers Assessment and Support Consortium. (2002). Model standards in science for beginning teacher license and development: A resource for state dialogue. Retrieved Feb 20, 2004, from http://www.ccsso.org/projects/Interstate_New_Teacher_Assessment_and_Support_Consortium/Projects/Standards_Development/#science.
Kincheloe, J. L., & McLaren, P. L. (1994). Rethinking critical theory and qualitative research. In N. K. Denzin & Y. S. Lincoln (Eds.), Handbook of qualitative research (pp. 138–157). Thousand Oaks: Sage.
Lederman, N. G. (1999). Teachers’ understanding of the nature of science and classroom practice: Factors that facilitate or impede the relationship. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 36, 916–929.
Lederman, N. G., & Zeidler, D. L. (1987). Science teachers’ conceptions of the nature of science: Do they really influence teaching behavior? Science Education, 71, 721–734.
Lee, O. (1999). Equity implications based on the conceptions of science achievement in major reform documents. Review of Educational Research, 69, 83–115.
Lee, O. (2003). Equity for linguistically and culturally diverse students in science education: A research agenda. Teachers College Record, 105, 465–489.
Lee, O., & Fradd, S. H. (1998). Science for all, including students from non-English language backgrounds. Educational Researcher, 27, 12–27.
Luft, J. A., Bragg, J., & Peters, C. (1999). Learning to teach in a diverse setting: A case study of a multicultural science education enthusiast. Science Education, 83, 527–543.
Lynch, S. (1997). Novice teachers’ encounters with national science education reform: Entanglements or intelligent interconnections? Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 34, 3–17.
Lynch, S. (1998, Spring). Whose science for which Americans? Worldview and science education reform. Educational Horizons, 132–139.
McDaniel, P., Devi, B., Crockett, D., & Atwater, M. M. (1995, April). Secondary preservice teachers ideas about culture, ethnicity, and learning of marginalized students. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of National Association for Research in Science Teaching, San Francisco. (ERIC Document Reproduction Services No. ED 417 950).
McGinnis, J. R., & Pearsall, M. (1998). Teaching elementary science methods to women: A male professor’s experience from two perspectives. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 35, 919–949.
National Education Association. (2004). Are male teachers on the road to extinction? Retrieved July 6, 2006, from http://www.nea.org/newsreleases/2004/nr040428.html.
National Research Council. (1996). National science education standards. Washington: National Academy Press.
National Science Teachers Association. (2003). Standards for science teacher preparation. Retrieved April 8, 2004, from http://www.nvgc.vt.edu/nsta-ncate/nsta98.htm.
Nieto, S. (2000). Affirming diversity: The sociopolitical context of multicultural education (3rd ed.). New York: Addison Wesley Longman.
No Child Left Behind. (2001, May 06). Retrieved May 6, 2004, from http://www.ed.gov/nclb/landing.jhtml.
Norman, O. (1998). Marginalized discourse and scientific literacy. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 35, 365–374.
Rodriguez, A. J. (1997). The dangerous discourse of invisibility: A critique of the National Research Council’s National Science Education Standards. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 34, 19–37.
Rodriguez, A. J. (1998). Strategies for counterresistance: Toward sociotransformative constructivism and learning to teach science for diversity and for understanding. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 35, 589–622.
Rodriguez, A. J. (2001). From gap-gazing to promising cases: Moving toward equity in urban education reform. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 38, 1115–1129.
Scantlebury, K. (1995). Challenging gender blindness in preservice secondary science teachers. Journal of Science Teacher Education, 6, 134–142.
Seiler, G. (2001). Reversing the “standard” direction: Science emerging from the lives of African American students. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 38, 1000–1014.
Settlage, J. (2000). Views of science as represented in urban schoolchildren’s photographs. Electronic Journal of Science Education, 5, 1–11.
Simmons, P. E., Emory, A., Carter, T., Coker, T., Finnegan, B., Crockett, D., et al. (1999). Beginning teachers: Beliefs and classroom actions. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 36, 930–954.
Smith, P. S., Banilower, E. R., McMahon, K. C., & Weiss, I. R. (2002). The national survey of science and mathematics education: Trends from 1977 to 2000. Retrieved July 11, 2006, from http://2000survey.horizon-research.com/reports/trends/trends_report.pdf.
Southerland, S. A., & Gess-Newsome, J. (1999). Preservice teachers’ views of inclusive science teaching as shaped by images of teaching, learning, and knowledge. Science Education, 83, 131–150.
Spurlin, Q. (1995). Making science comprehensible for language minority students. Journal of Science Teacher Education, 6, 71–78.
Strauss, A., & Corbin, J. (1998). Basics of qualitative research: Techniques and procedures for developing grounded theory (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks: Sage.
Tate, W. (2001). Science education as a civil right: Urban schools and opportunity-to-learn considerations. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 39, 1015–1028.
Trumbull, D. J., & Kerr, P. (1993). University researchers’ inchoate critiques of science teaching: Implications for the content of preservice science teacher education. Science Education, 77, 301–317.
U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Educational Statistics. (2005). The condition of Education 2005 (NCES 2005–094). Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.
Waldrip, B. G., & Taylor, P. C. (1999). Standards for cultural contextualization of interpretive research: A Melanesian case. International Journal of Science Education, 21, 249–260.
Wideen, M., Mayer-Smith, J., & Moon, B. (1998). A critical analysis of the research on learning to teach: Making the case for an ecological perspective on inquiry. Review of Educational Research, 68, 130–178.
Yerrick, R., Ross, D., & Molebash, P. (2003). Promoting equity with digital video. Learning and Leading With Technology, 31, 16–20.
Yerrick, R., Ross, D., & Molebash, P. (2005). Too close for comfort: Real-time science teaching reflections via digital video editing. Journal of Science Teacher Education, 16, 351–375.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
About this article
Cite this article
Ferguson, R. If Multicultural Science Education Standards’ Existed, What Would They Look Like?. J Sci Teacher Educ 19, 547–564 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10972-008-9108-5
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10972-008-9108-5