Indigenous Political Difference,Colonial Perspectives and the Challenge of Diplomatic Relations: Toward a Decolonial Diplomacy in Multicultural Educational Theory

This article considers how diplomacy can be refined and amplified within the field of multicultural education. Focusing on Native American peoples in particular, I argue that the multiculturalist emphasis on cultural diplomacy overlooks the political difference of First Nations peoples. In contrast to a multiculturalist cultural diplomacy, the article develops diplomacy according to a decolonial framework that seeks to dismantle colonial perspectives of Native American political difference. Drawing upon theorists and historians of diplomacy, as well as Indigenous and decolonial writers, the article seeks to provide the terms through which teacher identifications as decolonial diplomats can be fostered toward Native Americans.     

African American Students in Counselor Education Programs: Perceptions of Their Experiences

The authors explored 11 African American doctoral students' perceptions of their experiences in counselor education programs, and their findings are presented. Using a phenomenological methodological framework, the authors investigated the various systems of support that students use as they navigate their respective programs. Human agency was the theoretical framework for this study, and 4 themes emerged from the data: assertiveness, more experienced African American students, race‐based organizations, and personal and professional care from advisors. Implications for students and counselor education programs are discussed.     

Indigenous cultural contexts for STEM experiences: snow snakes’ impact on students and the community

Opportunities for American Indian youth to meaningfully engage in school-based science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) experiences have historically been inadequate. As a consequence, American Indian students perform lower on standardized assessments of science education than their peers. In this article we describe the emergence of meaning for students—as well as their community—resulting from Indigenous culturally-based STEM curriculum that used an American Indian tradition as a focal context. Specifically, the game of snow snakes (Gooneginebig in Ojibwe) afforded an opportunity for STEM and culturally-based resources to work in unison. A case study research design was used with the bounded case represented by the community associated with the snow snake project. The research question guiding this study was: What forms of culturally relevant meaning do students and the community form as a result of the snow snake game? Results indicate evidence of increased student and community engagement through culturally-based STEM experiences in the form of active participation and the rejuvenation of a traditional game. Implications are discussed for using culturally-based contexts for STEM learning.     

美国研究生STEM教育最新核心能力——政策脉络、标准框架及培养路径

美国研究生STEM教育核心能力框架为其高科技人才培养提供了理论基础。基于对《21世纪研究生STEM教育》报告中美国硕士与博士研究生STEM教育的最新核心能力分析,形成2项一级指标、4项二级指标和26项三级指标的最新核心能力标准框架。跨学科多元教育要素整合的内生路径和多元利益主体协作的外促路径,构成了美国研究生STEM教育核心能力培养路径。我国研究生教育亟需构建基于类型和专业的研究生核心能力框架;强化学科能力各要素的关系研究,完善专业能力的内容与考核机制;明确可转移能力的具体内容,制定多元的培养路径;立足协同多元利益主体,建立研究生核心能力联动培养机制。     

Learning from land and water: exploring mazinaabikiniganan as indigenous epistemology

Abstract

Indigenous peoples have long called for education that supports self-determination, counters colonial practices, and values our cultural identity and pride as Indigenous peoples. In recent years, Land education has emerged as a form of decolonial praxis that necessarily privileges Indigenous ontologies and epistemologies and engages in critiques of settler-colonialism. Informed by this theoretical framework and using Indigenous storywork methodology, this study focused on the perspectives of six Anishinaabe Elders on mazinaabikiniganan (commonly known as pictographs) at Agawa Rock, now part of Lake Superior Provincial Park in Ontario, Canada. Revealing ways of knowing and being that are intimately connected to Land and place, the pedagogical potential of mazinaabikiniganan as a form of Land education is discussed.     

Conceptualizing a mentoring program for American Indian/Alaska Native students in the STEM fields: a review of the literature

In order to address the disparity of American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) doctorates in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM), culturally congruent mentorship program development is needed. Because traditional Western academic paradigms are typically constrained to a non-Indigenous perspective, the authors question how American Indian graduate students in STEM can successfully navigate graduate education with their cultural identity intact. Our review and synthesis of the literature addresses this question by considering 60 data sources that include peer-reviewed articles, personal communication with professionals working in the field of AI/AN academic success, and professional training literature. Our synthesis demonstrates that there is a dearth of Indigenous participation in the STEM fields that needs to be addressed by instituting a bicultural paradigm. This paradigm includes incorporating traditional academic mentoring into Indigenous values and kinship structures. A conceptual model is offered that delineates information necessary to conceptualize and develop an Indigenous mentoring program.     

CORRELATES AND PREDICTORS OF ACADEMIC SELF EFFICACY AMONG AFRICAN AMERICAN STUDENTS

The purpose of the study was to investigate the relationship between academic self efficacy, ethnic identity and spirituality in African American STEM students. We hypothesize that there will be a significant relationship between three dimensions of spirituality and outcome expectations in African American STEM students and that there will be a significant relationship between outcome expectations and ethnic identity. 165 African American undergraduates in STEM disciplines enrolled at a historically-black university comprised the target population for this study. A regression and correlation analysis revealed that one dimension of religiosity was significantly related to and predicted academic outcome expectations among African American STEM students.     

STEM Doctoral Completion of Underrepresented Minority Students: Challenges and Opportunities for Improving Participation in the Doctoral Workforce

This article is a result of the analysis of student-level enrollment records from twenty-one research universities in the United States, and it contributes to a more robust understanding of timely completion of STEM doctorates by underrepresented minority students. Using multivariate logit regression models, findings indicated that Hispanic/Latino and students from other underrepresented groups complete at higher rates than do their Black/African American counterparts. Findings also indicated that prior master’s degrees and institutional participation in doctoral completion programs positively correlate with STEM doctoral completion. We conclude by offering insights and recommendations for graduate schools about how to increase the STEM doctoral attainment rate of students from underrepresented groups.     

The importance of place in indigenous science education

In this issue of Cultural Studies of Science Education, Mack and colleagues (Mack et al. 2011) seek to identify the necessary components of science education in Indigenous settings. Using a review of current research in informal science education in Indigenous settings, along with personal interviews with American educators engaged in these programs, the authors suggest some effective practices to use Indigenous ways of knowing to strengthen science programming. For the past 4 years, we have been interested in the importance of place in culturally relevant science education. We have explored the role of place and have used Gruenewald’s critical pedagogy of place (2003) to examine the importance of place in a variety of Indigenous contexts. In response to Mack and colleagues, in this paper we explore the importance of place as a means to reinhabituate Indigenous youth who live in urban, First Nation, and rural Costa Rican contexts.     

美国K-12整合性STEM教育框架:理念、课程路径与支持系统

美国整合性STEM教育框架基于STEM理念,阐明对整合性STEM的共识性理解,首次提供了涵盖K-12阶段的整合性STEM课程资源,绘制了STEM课程路线图,提供在课堂层次实施STEM的课程路线,为整合STEM方法的系统转型提供支持,以数据驱动STEM教学与评价,制定有效的STEM课程项目和STEM教师专业发展框架,推动整合性STEM课程实施与教学方法改革,培养学生运用STEM知识去解决真实问题,提高创新、批判性思维和解决问题的能力,培养21世纪技能。美国整合性STEM教育框架的课程理念、课程路径与课程支持系统,对我国在基础教育阶段推进STEM教育改革,开发全学段的STEM教育整体框架和课程路线图可以提供有益借鉴,包括基于标准的整合性STEM课程框架,赋能STEM教师的整合性教学实践和推动整合性STEM教育的系统性转变。     

基于KH Coder文本数据挖掘的中日STEM教育研究模式对比

STEM教育由于强调跨学科融合和创新人才培养的理念而受到世界各国的广泛关注。我国学者的国际视野主要集中于欧美国家,而对日本的STEM教育研究甚少。造成这一现象的主要原因在于当前主流文献数据库并不支持对日语文献的检索,因此有必要借助KH Coder这一支持日语文献分析的文本数据挖掘软件来探索日本STEM教育研究的特色,以期为我国的STEM教育研究提供借鉴。通过对中日两国STEM教育研究主题高频词表与主题词共现关系网络的分析发现,日本的STEM教育研究更偏向于实践,且注重进行实证研究;实践指向下的开发主要关注教材开发,且非常注重与地方特色产业相结合;同时倡导和重视国际间合作开展STEM实践,不断输出和引进可贵经验。反观我国的STEM教育研究,则偏向于介绍国外特别是美国的STEM教育经验,课程内容偏向于STEM教育的理念及其设计等理论层面问题,非常缺乏融入本地境脉的实践和实证研究。为了更好地推进我国STEM教育的实践发展,我国学者应该借鉴日本STEM教育研究模式的特色,从实践与实证相结合、建立国际合作、融入地方境脉三方面探求STEM教育研究模式的转变。     

Science identity possibilities: a look into Blackness,masculinities, and economic power relations

This forum paper dialogues with Sheron Mark’s A bit of both science and economics: a non-traditional STEM identity narrative. In her paper, she discusses the development of a Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) identity by a young African American male during an informal STEM for Social Justice Program. Here, the discussion focuses on Black masculinities, identity formation, and the role of science educators in making STEM fields a welcoming place for young Black men. Drawing from Mark’s data and discussion, this paper is a dialogue between science identity possibilities in the United States and in Brazil when we look at the intersections of race, gender, and socioeconomic status. Using the shared colonial past of both countries a connection is established to address race relations within science education. The main argument in this paper is that racism can no longer be denied and dismissed by the science education community worldwide and that intersectional approaches are needed to face this issue.     

The Contribution of HBCUS to the Preparation of African American Women for Stem Careers: A Case Study

This study uses case study analysis to explore the ways that Spelman College, a historically Black women’s college, promotes the attainment of African American women in STEM fields. Although limited to one institution, the findings shed light on the ways that institutional characteristics, policies, and practices may mitigate the barriers that limit attainment of African American women in STEM fields. Drawing on the findings, the paper concludes with recommendations for improving policy and practice as well as recommendations for additional fruitful research.     

中美STEM教育研究的文献计量学分析

本文基于文献计量学理论,对中美STEM教育研究的文献进行了分析,分别得出了两国在该领域的高影响期刊、文献年度分布、前十位高产学者以及高产学术机构等结果.研究表明,美国STEM教育研究人员和机构数量庞大,而国内文献总量较少,增速缓慢,各学术机构间产量悬殊,高产学者和资源分布比较集中;美国STEM教育研究注重基础性和实证性,国内综述性研究居多,缺少支撑STEM教育实践的实证性研究;美国STEM教育研究涵盖所有学段,研究主题涉及众多方面,国内研究主要针对基础教育和创客教育,对高等教育等研究不足.未来我国STEM教育研究应在教师专业发展、STEM课程融合和学习科学等方面开展广泛的本土化研究.     

美国大学少数族裔STEM教育的现状、影响因素及发展路径

通过对美国大学少数族裔STEM教育的现状分析发现,美国大学的少数族裔整体接受STEM教育的比率仍然较低,黑人学生STEM教育的参与度不高,原住民学生的STEM教育入学率低下,少数族裔女性学生在STEM职业发展中处于不利地位。这受到美国历史、文化、经济和教育等多元化因素的综合影响。为此,美国实施多元化的路径提升少数族裔STEM教育质量,例如,设置适合少数族裔发展的STEM教学培养模式,设立不同类型的STEM奖学金资助计划,建立有助于提升少数族裔STEM研究能力的研究机构,开发优秀的STEM大学课程资源等。这对我国少数民族的理工科教育的发展具有一定的借鉴意义。     

The cultural interface tension: doing Indigenous work in the academy

This article explores Vanessa Anthony-Stevens and Sammy Matsaw’s paper “The productive uncertainty of Indigenous and decolonizing methodologies in the preparation of interdisciplinary STEM researchers”. That paper reports on a small qualitative study on how STEM students in the field of natural resources management react to the inclusion of Indigenous ways of knowing in their interdisciplinary research methodologies course. The authors are engaging contested intersections of knowledge that are notoriously difficult to negotiate. I argue that the inclusion of Indigenous ‘ways of knowing’ into the water resource management curriculum is based on Morgan’s (in: McKinley, Smith (eds) Handbook of indigenous education, Springer, Singapore, pp 111–128, 2019. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-3899-0) idea of the ‘guest paradigm’. At the same time, and in contrast, I also argue that the inclusion of Indigenous knowledge in the curriculum cannot just occur in the classroom but needs to be considered at an institutional and individual level as well. The project should be seen as a small step within a wider Indigenous agenda of decolonizing the Eurocentric curriculum.

     

Counterspaces for women of color in STEM higher education: Marginal and central spaces for persistence and success

Counterspaces in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) are often considered “safe spaces” at the margins for groups outside the mainstream of STEM education. The prevailing culture and structural manifestations in STEM have traditionally privileged norms of success that favor competitive, individualistic, and solitary practices—norms associated with White male scientists. This privilege extends to structures that govern learning and mark progress in STEM education that have marginalized groups that do not reflect the gender, race, or ethnicity conventionally associated with STEM mainstream success, thus necessitating spaces in which the effects of marginalization may be countered. Women of color is one such marginalized group. This article explores the struggles of women of color that threaten their persistence in STEM education and how those struggles lead them to search out or create counterspaces. It also examines the ways that counterspaces operate for women of color in STEM higher education, particularly how they function as havens from isolation and microaggressions. Using a framework of Critical Race Theory (CRT) and intersectionality theory and drawing on interview data from 39 women of color about their STEM higher education experiences, we describe five ways in which counterspaces operate: in peer‐to‐peer relationships; mentoring relationships; national STEM diversity conferences; STEM and non‐STEM campus student groups; and STEM departments. Whereas most research has discussed counterspaces as racially or ethnically homogeneous social groups of peers at the margins, our research found that counterspaces vary in terms of the race/ethnicity, gender, and power levels of participants. We found that counterspaces can be physical settings, as well as conceptual and ideological. Additionally, we identified counterspaces both at the margins and at the center of STEM departments. Thus, our research expands the existing understanding of the types and functions of counterspaces and broadens the definition of what locations can be and should be considered counterspaces. © 2017 The Authors. Journal of Research in Science Teaching Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of National Association for Research in Science Teaching. J Res Sci Teach 55: 206–245, 2018     

The interplay between structure and agency in the enactment of STEM policy

In their paper, Hoeg and Bencze argue that current STEM curriculum guidelines prioritise the training of a workforce in detriment of a democratically grounded education for citizenship. We agree that there is an insufficient questioning about which type of citizenship STEM curricula would favour and wish to contribute to this debate by (1) problematising different meanings and aspects of citizenship in different models of democracy and (2) exploring the dialectical nature of structure and agency in the discursive construction of educational (policy) discourse. We also discuss results from recent empirical research about teachers’ ideas on citizenship education in order to challenge views that assume a linearity between educational policy and its enactment.     

Muskrat theories,tobacco in the streets,and living Chicago as Indigenous land

In this paper, we aim to contribute to ongoing work to uncover the ways in which settler colonialism is entrenched and reified in educational environments and explore lessons learned from an urban Indigenous land-based education project. In this project, we worked to re-center our perceptual habits in Indigenous cosmologies, or land-based perspectives, and came to see land re-becoming itself. Through this recentering, we unearthed some ways in which settler colonialism quietly operates in teaching and learning environments and implicitly and explicitly undermines Indigenous agency and futurity by maintaining and reifying core dimensions of settler colonial relations to land. We describe examples in which teachers and community members explicitly re-engaged land-based perspectives in the design and implementation of a land-based environmental science education that enabled epistemological and ontological centering that significantly impacted learning, agency, and resilience for urban Indigenous youth and families. In this paper, we explore the significance of naming and the ways in which knowledge systems are mobilized in teaching and learning environments in the service of settler futurity. However, we suggest working through these layers of teaching and learning by engaging in land-based pedagogies is necessary to extend and transform the possibilities and impacts of environmental education.     

An Innovative Near-Peer Mentoring Model for Undergraduate and Secondary Students: STEM Focus

This study examined a novel mentoring model, near-peer mentorship, that supports the development of mentee and mentor, incorporates established principles of mentoring, and offers unique opportunities to integrate research and teaching in a science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) internship. Using qualitative methods, this model was examined from the perspectives of near-peer mentors and student mentees during a science education internship at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research. Results revealed that this mentorship model contributed to personal, educational, and professional growth for near-peer mentors and increased the interest and engagement of students studying STEM. We discuss implications, limitations, and future directions.