Why Multicultural Science?

I am a high school science teacher. When I began teaching science, I assumed that there would be many resources available to connect science to my students' life experiences. Unfortunately, I found three major problems with the science textbooks and curricula I reviewed for use in my classes:

1. The textbooks do not tap into my students' prior knowledge. The authors assume that my students have played golf and used a carpenter's level. My students have rich background knowledge, but it is often very different from the background knowledge of the average textbook author. They may have extensive knowledge of camel herding, embroidery, herbal medicine, or lowriders, but few if any of these topics are included in the textbooks.

2. Most textbooks omit the many significant contributions made by female scientists, LGBT scientists, and scientists of color. My students need to see that people like them can be scientists.

3. Textbooks do not discuss the many ways in which different cultures have used science to meet their needs. They make science look like something that only happens when men in white coats and goggles meet up in laboratories. They rarely discuss the complex scientific knowledge required to build a temple, breed crops, dig irrigation channels, or dye cloth.

The first problem causes students to see science as boring, incomprehensible, and irrelevant to their daily lives. They can memorize the examples in the textbook, but they don't have any hands-on experiences with them. Science becomes a collection of abstract knowledge to regurgitate, rather than a way of solving problems in everyday life.

The second and third problems prevent many students from identifying themselves as scientists. They see science as synonymous with a culture and worldview that is foreign to them. They believe that the only way to be successful in science would be to give up who they are and assimilate to that culture and worldview.

These three problems are turning many of our brightest students off to science. I believe that we can reconnect these students to science if we are willing to fill in what is missing from their textbooks. Unfortunately, most of us were never taught the information we need to fill in the gaps, and it's not always easy to come by. I will be posting what I've found on this blog. I certainly don't know everything about teaching multicultural science...a lifetime of learning would not be enough! Still, I hope that what I post here can give others a taste of what is out there, if we only take the time to look.