ASSETS: Advancing, Supporting, and Sustaining Equity among Elementary Teachers of Science
PERIOD:
TO
There is an urgent need to expand antiracist and justice-oriented teaching into all learning-to-teach experiences, beyond multicultural or foundations courses in teacher education, to effectively address issues of (in)equity within education. The ASSETS project focuses on science teaching at the elementary level. Science is a common challenge among elementary teachers and it is frequently, and mistakenly, seen as "neutral" with respect to justice issues.
To address these needs, the ASSETS project will develop and iteratively refine a practical justice framework and a suite of teacher education materials that support early career teachers--from preservice teacher education through their third year of classroom teaching--in teaching that recognizes and nurtures the scientific knowledge and practices of children and supports meaningful participation of historically marginalized children in science. Research within the project will work to explain connections among the framework and materials and their potential effects, longitudinally, on early career teachers' ideas, plans, and teaching practice, within their school and district contexts. Thus, the overarching aim of the project is to develop and research a practical justice framework to orient teacher education toward the preparation of well-started beginners capable of advancing racial, economic, and social justice within elementary science.
