Towards Equitable, Social Justice Criticality: Re-Constructing the “Black” Box and Making it Transparent for the Future of Science and Technology in Science Education

Abstract

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has resulted in the rapid emergence of vaccines, the dual benefits of both science and technology have been lauded, while dominant, deficit-based narratives of vaccine hesitancy and mistrust in science and medicine by the general public, particularly minoritized populations, run rampant. In this paper, we argue for a counternarrative, where instead of erroneously positioning communities of color as the problem, the problem is reframed to consider what the scientific, technological, and science education communities need to do to become more trustworthy and transgress the persistent shortcomings related to racism and injustice. Specifically, in this position paper, we (a) discuss the interactions of science, technology, and society from the perspective of the nature of technology; (b) engage an understanding of how bias, access, and racism operate in and at the intersection of science, technology, and technological systems; (c) discuss implications of these ideas in science education; and finally (d) pose recommendations to counter alienation and racism with an emphasis on a sixth dimension, equitable, social justice criticality, for science-technology education. In conclusion, we make recommendations by centering a more equitable, social justice criticality of science and technology.

Science class as clinic: Why histories of segregated instruction matter for health equity reforms today

“…Many have underscored opportunities for justice‐centered science pedagogies to explore sociopolitical aspects of the COVID‐19 pandemic—essential for all students and not only those facing its most unjust effects (see, e.g., Forsythe & Chan, 2021; Waight et al, 2022). Recent studies discuss at least ten issues around which students, teachers, and teacher educators might examine scientific and sociopolitical dimensions of the pandemic as matters of pressing global concern.…”

“…Still, ongoing vigilance is crucial whenever health issues enter science classrooms to avoid: (1) isolating these topics as prescriptions for target subgroups; (2) tokenizing the issues as motivating hooks without directly interrogating power; (3) restricting discussion to individualist, technocentric solutions; and (4) reinscribing damage‐centered narratives of communities as passive objects of mistreatment (Forsythe & Chan, 2021; Sheth, 2019). To this last point, refusing overemphasis on the Tuskegee syphilis or Henrietta Lacks stories (Gamble, 2014) might entail exploring how biomedicine is indebted to the “expertise of African, Indigenous, and ancestral communities of color” (Waight et al, 2022; p. 16) and to those who have “resisted and refuted scientific racism” (p. 17), such as Black women physician‐activists (Gamble, 2016), Latinx organizations (Varelas et al, 2018), Indigenous water walkers (Bang et al, 2014), and street medics (Weinstein, 2014).…”

“…Recent studies discuss at least ten issues around which students, teachers, and teacher educators might examine scientific and sociopolitical dimensions of the pandemic as matters of pressing global concern. These include: heightened viral exposures of delivery, healthcare, and other essential workers (Forsythe & Chan, 2021), disparate resources for sheltering at home (Rezende et al, 2021), inequitable access to medical facilities (Rodrigues & Lowan-Trudeau, 2021), racializing narratives of irresponsible patients (Mark, 2022), systemic racism in healthcare institutions (Saddler et al, 2021), racialized medical devices like the pulse oximeter (Waight et al, 2022), racially biased healthcare management algorithms (Cheuk, 2021), disability and the rationing of lifesaving resources (Williams et al, 2022), unjust domestic and global vaccine distribution (Raveendran & Bazzul, 2021), and intensified environmental racism (Forsythe & Chan, 2021).…”

Theoretical perspectives for developing antiracist teaching dispositions and practices in preservice teacher education

“…We advocate for antiracist science teaching and learning because it provides a powerful opportunity for teachers to address the racist history of scientific disciplines and science education (Bliss, 2012(Bliss, , 2015Morales-Doyle, 2017;Sheth, 2019). Furthermore, justice-oriented science learning is a right for minoritized learners and provides opportunities for us to make real on our promise to acknowledge and celebrate learners' full humanity and dignity (Espinoza et al, 2020;Espinoza & Vossoughi, 2014;Sheth, 2019;Waight et al, 2022). In so doing, educators can facilitate learning experiences where learners bring their full selves to all science classrooms.…”

“…For decades, scholars who are guided by critical perspectives and theoretical frameworks have called out how white supremacy and systemic racism work to (re)produce societal and educational injustices in U.S.‐based science learning contexts (e.g., Apple, 1992; Bryan & Atwater, 2002; Johnston et al, 2011). In addressing the racist and settled history of scientific disciplines and science teaching (Bang et al, 2012; Sheth, 2019; Waight et al, 2022) and the notion that science education and science teacher education are claimed as white property (Bullock, 2017; Mensah & Jackson, 2018), critical scholars highlight the sociopolitical nature of society, schooling, and science education. Moreover, scientific and pseudo‐scientific research have been incorrectly used to affirm racist theories, and those theories have driven—and continue to drive—racist science ideologies in practice in both science fields and classrooms (see #scientificracism; Brown & Mutegi, 2010; Harvard University Library, 2022).…”