Talking through the “messy middle” of partnerships in science education

Abstract

This paper's focus is on the “middle” of partnerships for equity in science education. Middle is used in a temporal sense, meaning the time after the general purposes and terms of working together have been set and before outcomes have been achieved. The middle of the partnership also represents people interacting, bounded around the edges, by their institutional roles, norms, resources, and priorities. As co‐authors who had not previously collaborated (or even met in person), we approached the construction of this manuscript as a dialogue where we learn by sharing narrations of experiences and values and principles. We were inspired by the conversational book between Horton and Freire (1990) and specifically their discussion of “Is it possible to just teach biology?” (p. 102). In our conversation, we illustrate the ways in which partnerships may make justice‐oriented science education possible. Our focus is on complementary and contradictory knowledges, and ways of knowing, institutional resources and constraints, and strategies for making transformative change. We explore the middle of partnerships as a series of opportunities for learning and growing, caring for one another, and building solidarity spaces together.

Justice‐centered community–university partnering: Core tenets of partnering for justice epistemology

“…Kang and González‐Howard (2022) focus their paper on the beginning of projects as efforts to establish and focus on partnering. Cheuk and Morales‐Doyle (2022) center their reflections on the “messy middles” of partnering as spaces of negotiating, relating, and role‐remediation. Finally, Santos and Scipio (2022) explore intentional endings of "partnering projects" as something importantly distinct from “partnering,” as the latter offer persists long beyond a given project.…”

“…In the second paper, Cheuk and Morales‐Doyle (2022) explore the “messy middle” of partnering. It is here where people as partners engage in relating, trust building, and negotiating emergent conflicts to take incremental steps toward transformative change.…”

“…One is building relationships with people over time so that we can trust each other and understand each other's priorities, principles, and commitments. The second is to be understanding and adaptable to each other's institutional constraints, pressures, and opportunities” (Cheuk & Morales‐Doyle, 2022; p. 1199). Holistic partnering is site of authentic care. Like holistic pedagogy (Burgess & Patterson Williams, 2022; Patterson & Gray, 2019) and holistic advising (Dodo Seriki & McDonald, 2022; Suárez & Beatty, 2022), holistic partnering acknowledges, celebrates, and honors the beauty and needs of the humans involved.…”

“…We have to practice authentic caring in partnerships. We can't just value partners for their measurable contributions to the work, but we have to care for each other as humans” (Cheuk & Morales‐Doyle, 2022; p. 2204). Intentionality and vigilance are required for redistributing power. Kang and González‐Howard (2022) remind us that “human relationships are inevitably shaped by histories of race and differential power that set the stage for partnership formation.…”

“…Academics, as those perceived to have power, have unique responsibilities: “we have to enter these partnerships with humility, honesty, and integrity—conscious of our positionality as academics” (Tolbert et al, 2018). We have to find creative ways to flatten those uneven power relations and secure resources for smaller organizations and schools” (Cheuk & Morales‐Doyle, 2022; p. 1205). Recognition work is how particular aspects of participation are reified and integrated into identities and memories that carry forward particular interpretations of project experiences, shaping and potentially empowering future experiences. The ways experiences and impacts of partnering are interpreted, the people with whom the results are shared, and the formats used to share these outcomes all require intentionality and vigilance related to power.…”