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Peer-reviewed article

Social justice and out-of-school science learning: Exploring equity in science television, science clubs and maker spaces

May 29, 2017 | Media and Technology, Public Programs
Ideas from social justice can help us understand how equity issues are woven through out-of-school science learning practices. In this paper, I outline how social justice theories, in combination with the concepts of infrastructure access, literacies and community acceptance, can be used to think about equity in out-of-school science learning. I apply these ideas to out-of-school science learning via television, science clubs and maker spaces, looking at research as well as illustrative examples to see how equity challenges are being addressed in practice. I argue that out-of-school science learning practices can be understood on a spectrum from weak to strong models of social justice. Thinking about social justice as a spectrum helps us think through what equitable out-of-school science learning practices might involve, both to analyze existing practices and, importantly, to imagine new, more inclusive ones.

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  • 2015 07 10 Crop face
    Author
    University College London
  • Citation

    DOI : 10.1002/sce.21288
    ISSN : 1098-237x
    Publication Name: Science Education

    Funders

    International Public
    Funding Program: UK's Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC)
    Award Number: ES/G018448/1
    Resource Type: Research Products
    Discipline: Education and learning science | General STEM
    Audience: Elementary School Children (6-10) | Middle School Children (11-13) | Youth/Teen (up to 17) | Adults | General Public | Educators/Teachers | Museum/ISE Professionals
    Environment Type: Media and Technology | Broadcast Media | Public Programs | Afterschool Programs | Summer and Extended Camps | Making and Tinkering Programs
    Access and Inclusion: Ethnic/Racial | Women and Girls | English Language Learners | Low Socioeconomic Status

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