Middle School Teachers and Undergraduate Mentors Collaborating for Culturally Relevant STEM Education

2021 ◽  
pp. 004208592110584
Author(s):  
Meredith W. Kier ◽  
Lindy L. Johnson
Keyword(s):  
Middle School ◽  
Middle School Teachers ◽  
Culturally Relevant ◽  
Urban School District ◽  
School Teachers ◽  
Culturally Relevant Education ◽  
Curriculum And Pedagogy ◽  
Multiple Case ◽  
Relevant Education

This qualitative multiple case study explores the collaborations between three STEM middle school teachers and three STEM undergraduate mentors of color in an urban school district. Drawing on sociocultural theories and literature on culturally relevant education, we used a comparative thematic approach to explore how mentors contributed to culturally relevant opportunities in STEM curriculum and pedagogy. We found that the partners’ STEM identities, how the teacher positioned the mentor in the learners’ experience, and the teachers’ philosophy of the purpose of engineering influenced the contribution undergraduate mentors could make to rigorous and equitable engineering instruction.

Middle School Teachers' Sensemaking of Job-Embedded Learning

2017 ◽  
pp. 453-480 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brandi Wade Worsham
Keyword(s):  
Middle School ◽  
Middle School Teachers ◽  
School Context ◽  
Learning Experiences ◽  
Future Research ◽  
School Teachers ◽  
School Day ◽  
Research Findings ◽  
Job Embedded Learning

The purpose of this chapter is to discuss a multi-case study on how middle school teachers constructed understandings of their job-embedded learning experiences. The aim of the study was to explore how teachers made sense of and gave meaning to their learning experiences that occurred during the school day as they engaged in the work of being a teacher. Job-embedded learning experiences referred to any formal or informal learning opportunity that was grounded in the context of the school day and characterized by active learning and reflection. This chapter includes a detailed overview of the literature on effective professional development and the characteristics of job-embedded learning as each relates to the middle school context; the background and significance of the study; a description of the research design, methods, and procedures; a discussion of the research findings and subsequent implications for educators; and suggestions and recommendations for practice and future research.

scholarly journals “That Makes Sense Now!": Bicultural Middle School Students’ Learning in a Culturally Relevant Science Classroom

2021 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 145-172
Author(s):  
Deoksoon Kim ◽  
So Lim Kim ◽  
Mike Barnett
Keyword(s):  
Middle School ◽  
Culturally Relevant Pedagogy ◽  
Culturally Relevant ◽  
Science Classroom ◽  
School Students ◽  
Cultural Objects ◽  
Case Study Design ◽  
Multiple Case ◽  
Relevant Pedagogy

This study describes how culturally relevant pedagogy in a project-based science class improved student engagement and comprehension. We focus on bicultural students exploring cultural objects and household inventions with family members, connecting scientific concepts to their families’ funds of knowledge. We use a multiple-case study design to explore six middle school bicultural students’ experiences with culturally relevant activities. Findings describe bidirectional knowledge transfer between the home and the classroom in a way that engaged students, affirmed their home cultures, and facilitated subject matter learning. 

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