HANNAH CHEEK: My name is Hannah Cheek. And
I work for Pearson, overseeing science assessments.
I'm going to be speaking to Dr. Brown today
to talk about how science teachers can effectively
embed better diversity and inclusion within
their science education.
Dr. Brown is a Professor of Teacher Education
at Stanford University and author of the book
Science in the City, Culturally Relevant STEM
Education. His research explores the relationship
between student identity, classroom culture,
and academic achievement in science education.
He focuses on the social connotations and
cultural politics of science in the classroom,
as well as how teacher and student interactions
serve to shape learning opportunities. Dr.
Brown's work in science education in urban
communities focuses on developing collaborative
curricula cycles and classroom pedagogy. And
Dr. Brown's recent work explores how race,
language, and culture impact on students'
learning in urban science classrooms.
So firstly, welcome, Dr. Brown. And thank
you so much for giving your time to talk to
us today. You're clearly leading the way with
your research around inclusivity and science.
And I'm going to start with quite a simple
question, which is, why is that so important?
BRYAN ANTHONY BROWN: Well, first, thank you
for inviting me. I'm looking forward to this
conversation. I guess the first issue around
why it's important is rooted in the culture
of science.
If you think of English as a discipline, if
a person is a poor writer, we don't say, you're
just not a good writer because you're not
smart enough to be a good writer. We have
a culture of intellectual elitism in science
that is pervasive. And part of what that does,
is it allows us to hide behind poor instruction.
And so that may seem a little bit tangential
to the question, but if you add layers of
culture to it, if I am aware that people like
me are not a part of this field, that it's
for the intellectually elite, then any cues
that idea that might suggest that I'm not
a member of this community can tell me that
I am barking up the wrong tree. I'm headed
the wrong direction.
And so what we want to do is make sure that,
if we're going to create a culture of excellence
scientists across the world, that it is inclusive
of people from multiple perspectives. And
one way to do that is to make sure that the
science we are teaching sends an alternative
message. And so instead of sending the message
that you don't belong, it needs to be obvious
that science is a part of every culture.
HANNAH CHEEK: Yeah, that's very interesting.
And you know, those cues are coming from outside
of the classroom, but I suppose it's about
recognizing when they are also inside of the
classroom and which of those we can control.
We recently held a roundtable to start the
conversation with science educators about
diversity and inclusion in science. And what
science teachers are telling us time and again
is that they would really like some practical
tips about how they could do that and how
they could better embed diversity and inclusion
in their classrooms. What would you say to
those teachers?
BRYAN ANTHONY BROWN: That's a great question.
And one of the things that we struggle with
is being practical, and how this might happen.
So I'll start with a few. And in our teacher
education program, the way that we explain
the first steps in teaching is to say that
the curriculum is never the science. It's
always the people in the room.
That being said, we don't teach science. We
teach people. And what we want to learn is
science. So I have to relearn the science
in the context of the culture of the kids
so that I can help them understand it.
And so this may seem abstract. But it is a
[INAUDIBLE] I'll use an example. [INAUDIBLE]
then we forgot phone numbers, that there was
a time when we remembered everyone's phone
numbers and addresses. And the reason why
we don't have them is, the minute we have
a smartphone, the minute we could look it
up is we delete all unnecessary information.
So you might ask, well, how is this associated
with science? If that principle is fundamental
to our cognitive function, then we won't remember
any of the science that we are learning unless
it is functional and useful. So that goes
back to this issue of cultural diversity.
So if I'm teaching you the science of your
local context, you're more likely to remember
it and apply it. So practically, what might
that look like? And so instead of walking
in the room and deciding, today we're going
to learn about osmosis and how water moves
across membranes, I might start with a lesson
about how marinating food does something to
the food.
If we believe that marinating a local cultural
dish is going to make the meat more flavorful,
two things happen. One, you draw a connection
between the science that I'm teaching and
the culture that I'm a part of. Two, you're
making it easier for me to remember, because
I see it on a regular basis.
And so one of the things you have to do to
start is change the curriculum by teaching
science in context. And that's the hardest
part, because, as a teacher, if I never learned
about hydrogen bonding as an explanation for
why hair texture will change based on the
weather, then I've got to relearn it. And
I have to engage in, really, the work of a
pedagogical content. Now, that's one thing.
The second is a shift in how we approach both
formative and summative assessment. And so
we'll really pushed very hard, is asking students
to explain when it is an initial access. That's
knowledge. But asking them to explain the
science concept, how it matters to their local
context, why it's important for us to know,
that's understanding. That's a deeper knowledge.
That comes from Wiggins and McTighe's.
So we take the same thing, osmosis. Well how
is osmosis important to food? How do we use
it for our body and our local health? And
how does osmosis and having access to clean
water help engage in the community beyond?
So we want to then, for our form of assessment,
have students explain how osmosis works but
also explain its local implications. So the
second thing we want you to do as a teacher
is to start with topics that speak to the
students, but in a long way, in your lesson,
making sure that they have lots of opportunities
to talk about it.
Third thing, changing your audience for your
formative assessment-- and this is big. So
why are they explaining to you what they've
learned? That's inauthentic. You're just a
teacher. And they explain to you often.
So why not take it to the government? We're
going to explain why we need food and water.
We're going to create videos. We'll send those
out so we can explain this local social issue.
And so a part of what we really want teachers
to do is make pragmatic changes in their lesson,
but then magnify the scale of the science
that they're teaching so students are empowered
and see why science is important.
So change in the audience is one. Relearning
and reteaching in the context of the students
lives is the second. And the third thing is
a pretty profound shift in how you approach
your formative and summative assessment, so
the talking about science and the pursuit
of other things.
HANNAH CHEEK: Brilliant, thank you. That's
so useful. And I'm thinking about in the UK
that we've got a new framework, that schools
are inspected by the inspection famework.
And part of that is by using local context
in lessons. And I can really see why that
is so important in terms of promoting diversity
and inclusion. That's really interesting.
And also, you know, I was a biology teacher
for 15 years. And role models was something
that I felt was really important. And there
is a few different ways that you can approach
that. You can look at contemporary role models
and look at the discoveries that they're making
at the moment.
I always thought it was quite nice to link
up with people working science industry and
allow students to see those to try and see
a more diverse selection of role models. But
there is also, of course, the historical role
models that have made huge contributions to
the advancement of science. But what I think
is really important not to shy away from,
and I think sort of aligning to the conversation
that's happening a lot with Black Lives Matter
at the moment, is not to sort of hide away
from, sometimes, the history. And the context
of that is quite unpleasant. I'm thinking
about links that were made between eugenics
and genetics.
But as science teachers, we're not, you know,
social scientists. And sometimes it can be
quite daunting to enter into those conversations
in a classroom environment. Have you got anything
that you would suggest for STEM teachers to
be able to support them with those conversations?
BRYAN ANTHONY BROWN: Certainly. I think the
question of how science speaks to these broader
local, and national, and international issues
of social societal function are hugely important.
And what we have to remember is, these are
the things that are driving the kids every
day. They are intrigued by it. They want to
know what's going on. And so part of what
we have to think is that science for us is
a way to give the kids a liberatory power
to say to themselves, science can help explain
these things well beyond. And science is a
tool for me the change the society that I'm
in.
So now, here is the caution. And the caveat
for every science teacher is that I don't
need [INAUDIBLE] to be a social scientist,
but I do need you to teach the science well
enough so kids can go out and take perspective.
This is not to say they have to solve a problem,
but they can take perspective.
So for example, in the US, we have a huge
issue with diabetes. So if we're thinking
about who has access to the food that would
help people not have diabetes, fresh fruits
and vegetables, and kind of getting away from
really carbohydrate-dense diets, well, there
are so many basic science lessons about the
role of macromolecules, about the digestive
system, that, if we teach those issues and
have the students take perspective. And that
perspective is, given what we know, how does
this explain this concept?
So what I need teachers to understand is,
you don't really need them to have the solution
to the social issue, but be empowered to know
the science well enough, right? And if you
think about this international crisis with
COVID, this is an embedded lesson on the role
of antibodies, on antigens. I mean, biology
teachers have to ask themselves, well, how
do we want these kids to go out into the world?
So for example, you have an anti-vaccine community
and kind of a movement in the US right now.
So students who learn about antibodies, we
want them to take perspective, not to go and
solve the problem, but to be able to explain
thoroughly, here is how antibodies work.
And if you change your audience and your lesson
plans, and the outcome is, we're going to
create, let's say, for example, instructional
videos about how viruses work, but we're going
to take a perspective and say, for those of
you who think that we shouldn't have antibodies,
here is what the science is. For those of
you who think that we should, here is what
the science is. So you use the science as
a middle ground so the students can talk about
the things that they want to.
HANNAH CHEEK: Yeah, so using the science to
kind of encourage the debate rather than speaking
to the debate yourself. Yeah, that--
[INTERPOSING VOICES]
--makes a lot of sense. One thing that I found
really interesting in your book, Science in
the City, was the impact of language on student
outcomes, and as you describe it, the dialect-centered
dilemma. So for the benefit of those listening,
can you just explain a bit about what that
is and how that has an impact on students?
BRYAN ANTHONY BROWN: So I tease, where I'm
talking to a group of science teachers in
the UK, and there is a reason why we don't
have British accents in the US. And that reason
is, someone decided, I want to start my own
identity. I want to sound like something else.
And we-- we do, however, have regional accents.
And so people can move across the world. So
the question is, why do we have accents that
help us identify with a particular culture?
And the simple solution is, we like sounding
like a particular community of people.
And so if that is the case, language sends
two messages. One is content. And the second
is who I am. So as a professor, I have to
make a choice. Here is how I will communicate.
It is a conscious decision.
So what does that mean for students is that,
I'm in the classroom, and I hear things like,
well, inside of the nucleus is the nucleolus.
And the nucleolus is responsible for ribosome
production. And ribosomes make protein.
You've done something to me. You told me,
one, I don't understand, because there is
too many science terms in there. And two,
I'm now participating in a culture that I
don't feel comfortable with. And so if language
queues it sends a message about who we are
and it sends messages of content, then I have
to be careful as a teacher to make sure I'm
not telling students that you don't belong
to this culture.
And there was a study by [INAUDIBLE] that
said, in an introductory level biology class,
you often have more new terms than you'd have
in an introductory level Spanish class, right?
So if you had this huge volume of terms and
we don't [INAUDIBLE] any care for how it my
position people as insiders or outsiders,
then we run the risk of sending an additional
message that science for everybody but you.
That's one layer.
The second is that, if I'm a student and I
learn about science principles, let's say,
friction, but I learn about it from riding
a skateboard every day, I'm not going to learn
the academic terms, because the culture, right,
in the skateboard, does not require me to
understand the scientific terms to describe
friction. I might have alternative terminologies.
So as a teacher, my students might have a
really rich understanding of a concept, but
it's not communicated in the science language.
And so this is what we call the language identity
dilemma, because on one end, you a the message
to kids that they don't belong. And the second,
you don't understand the ideas that the kids
are communicating. And so teachers have to
be very attuned to how they use language.
And then when kids are speaking, you have
to ask a very simple question. What do you
mean by, right? And then that way, you get
to the true understanding of what kids are
thinking.
HANNAH CHEEK: So would you suggest that the
sort of simple response to that, I suppose,
is just to invest time in under-- in decoding
the language that the students are using to
explain their concepts?
BRYAN ANTHONY BROWN: So yeah. So we spent
about 10 years studying this experimentally,
right? So the idea for us was, if the idea
and the language are not the same thing, what
came first?
So chicken or the egg, and the answer to the
chicken and egg question is there [INAUDIBLE]
just wasn't a chicken egg, right? There was
something before. So and similarly, the idea
came. And then scientists labeled the idea.
But they had to talk about it before they
created the label.
HANNAH CHEEK: Yeah.
BRYAN ANTHONY BROWN: So why are we so concerned
about the label if the label then hinders
understanding? So what we do is we developed
this approach called disaggregate instruction,
which is to say, start your introduction by
introducing the idea, but remove the language
so that you can promote a deeper understanding
of the concept. So I might talk about, you
know, water moving across the tiny holes in
the cell. And the size of the holes matter.
But I might never-- I might not say semipermeable
membrane initially. I want to just get the
idea first.
The second part of the instruction is to say,
to be really, really explicit about the language.
So now that we understand what we're talking
about, let's now use the word "semipermeable
membrane." so we're going to explicitly teach
the language, because the issue is, not only
is there a discomfort, but we need to take
care to teach the language.
And here is what I mean by teach the language.
Just allowing students to practice-- and so
I might ask them to explain, why do you spray
the vegetables at the grocery store? But I'm
also going to embed a language practice.
I'll say, in your explanation, use words like
"semipermeable membrane," "isotonic solution,"
"hypertonic solution," "equilibrium," so they
get practice explaining the language itself.
We are really emphasizing about let's try
to remove the anxiety of language learning
by starting with simple language and give
students lots of practice so they can become
masters of the new language.
HANNAH CHEEK: Brilliant, thank you. That brings
me nicely onto something else that struck
me in the book, which was that you were describing
the best way of gaining quite a deep understanding
of science concepts is by actually teaching
it to somebody else. And as a biologist that
has been tasked with teaching physics from
time to time, I can really empathize with
that point of view.
And it's true that, you know, often, the person
who is making that gain in a classroom is
the teacher, because they are spending a lot
of time explaining to the students. And you
described something called the generativity
principle, which, my understanding is giving
students the opportunity to teach each other.
And I'd really appreciate it if you could
give us a bit more information about that
and the impact that that has on supporting
inclusivity.
BRYAN ANTHONY BROWN: So I think that a really
intriguing disciplinary hole in instruction
is, when you go to a chemistry class, the
one thing you are not expected to know is
chemistry. You come to the class because you
don't know it. And then the teacher asks you
a bunch of questions about chemistry, the
one thing that your-- you should not know.
And so there is this game of guess what's
inside my head, it doesn't benefit anyone.
And if you ask someone how to-- how they learn,
particularly how you learn a foreign language,
they would say, well, you go to another country.
And getting it wrong, being forced to use
the language produces mastery.
So if that is the case, then our classroom
discussions, the way that we assess should
be dramatically different. Students should
be asked to explain. And we should expect
them not to have the answer. But in the process
of explaining is how you go from I don't know
it to now I've mastered the concept.
So classrooms should be loud places, busy
places, where everybody is engaging in an
explanation. And teachers know that, because
every teacher I know will tell you, well,
I've really mastered the context because I
had to teach it. So why are we so invested
in making sure that students understand the
information first?
Why do we give them the information first
as opposed to allowing the process of explaining
to be the master teacher? And so we call this
the generativity principle, this idea of allowing
our formative assessments to empower the kids
to generate understanding. So a classroom
should be rich and deep in formative assessments
where kids are always explaining.
More importantly, we have to reduce the anxiety.
We have to build a culture where the kids
know, the reason why I'm having you explain
these ideas is because, if you have to explain
it several times, that's how we will arrive
at mastery.
HANNAH CHEEK: Brilliant, thank you very much.
And just moving on to assessment, both formative
and summative, there is obviously, as you've
described already, you, know sometimes a gap
between what the student knows in terms of
how a principle works, or the principles of
how something, say photosynthesis, but maybe
their language doesn't match the level of
understanding. What strategies would you recommend
in terms of assessment so that students can
demonstrate their true understanding of science
principles?
BRYAN ANTHONY BROWN: So I'm a huge fan of
both performance-based assessments and project-based
assessments that require explanation and advanced
expertise. With a multiple-choice test, you
really are asking students-- the verb that's
happening is, can you recognize the correct
idea? I'm more focused on production.
Can you produce clarity in an [INAUDIBLE]
And the ways that you do that are to give
students tasks that require them to argue
why one answer is right and why the alternative
cannot be true, to explain how a concept applies
to another idea, so lots of opportunities
for students to demonstrate what they know
in meaningful contexts. And the meaningful
context gives rise to [INAUDIBLE].
Now, if you add another layer, the other layer
is inclusivity. So it's hard to tell a student
that you are not a scientist when you're engaged
in arguments for scientific reform. Let's
say you're learning about meiosis, and the
lesson is a lesson where we're going to write
to our government about how the biological
ideal race is the fallacy, and that social
structures are changing the society, but biologically,
we're more similar than we are different.
And that needs to be part of how we think
about the world. It's very difficult to now
convince me, as a young person, that I'm not
a part of a scientific community, because
I've already been engaged. And so one of the
things teachers can do is really being creative
about changing your audience and using assessment,
both give them lots of opportunities to explain,
because that's when mastery happens, but enable
them to participate in science in a way that
is authentic, because that tells them, I'm
a part of this community.
HANNAH CHEEK: Brilliant, thank you so much.
I'm going to wrap up here. But before I go,
Dr. Brown, I'm going to give you the final
word. So if there were three things that you
would task all science teachers to do to promote
more diversity and inclusion in their classrooms,
what would they be?
BRYAN ANTHONY BROWN: So the first is the most
pragmatic. And it's lesson planning that talks
about localized issues that are culturally
relevant. Let the science be a solution and
a voice in your local community, which requires
you to think differently about the chemistry
you're teaching, the physics you're teaching.
Let's learn about where it happens in the
lives of the kids.
Now, I want to be very explicit here, not
the lives of the teachers, the lives of the
kids-- and so we have to do the work of learning
where our content matters through lesson planning.
And this is important, because this will change
an entire school, because if you build a curriculum
base, now you have teams of teachers helping
kids in the school see how science is important
to their communities.
The second is representation. So I like to
make this argument that, if you're parallel
parking, sometimes, if you're like me at all,
I might turn the music down to give me a little
bit more time to focus, right? You don't need
to. It just makes it easier, right?
So similarly, why do we allow our kids to
ask themselves, you know, should I be a part
of the science community? Are women like me,
are Muslims like me, are African-Americans
like me, are Latinx people like me a part
of the scientific community? Well, focus on
representation.
And here is what I mean. We have this new
digital world. You can connect to graduate
students, to science presentations, There
are people of every component of the world
engaged in science. You can find it on YouTube.
You can Skype people in. Focus on representation
so that you can reduce a little bit of that
psychological noise that students are experiencing.
And then finally, give them authentic experiences.
Take the science out of the classroom. So
if they're learning about a scientific idea,
let's go do something with that idea, because
nothing sends a message that I belong by--
louder than actually being a part of a particular
community.
HANNAH CHEEK: That's brilliant. Thank you
so much. Thank you, yeah, for your time, so
much, Dr. Brown. It was such a fascinating
conversation. And you've given us some brilliant
practical tips that the science teaching community
can get away with, so thank you for that.
And I'm sure it will have an enormous impact
on students going forwards.
The teachers listening, if you want to learn
more about the things that Dr. Brown was talking
about, I highly recommend his book, Science
in the City, Culturally Relevant STEM Education.
And if you'd like to know a bit more about
what Pearson are doing to support diversity
in science, then please visit our website
using the link below.
