STEM for All (eBook)

How to Connect, Create, and Cultivate STEM Education for All Learners

Leena Bakshi McLean (Autor)

eBook Download: EPUB

2024
496 Seiten
Jossey-Bass (Verlag)
978-1-394-22145-5 (ISBN)

Infos

Help close the STEM gap through theory and practical tools

Containing all of the practical tools needed to put theory into practice, STEM for All by Leena Bakshi McLean provides a roadmap for teachers, instructional coaches, and leaders to better understand the challenges that create low engagement and scores in STEM subjects and implement exciting and culturally relevant teaching plans. This book covers a wealth of key topics surrounding the subject, including classroom culture, discourse, identity, and belonging, family and community participation, and justice-centered core learning.

This book uses the Connect, Create, and Cultivate framework from STEM4Real, an organization that provides socially just and culturally relevant STEM teaching and standards-based learning strategies, combined with stories and case studies of real students throughout to provide context for key concepts. In this book, readers will learn about:

• Six pillars that can throw off the foundation of a classroom, including non-inclusive curriculum and lack of equal access
• Moments of triumph and resilience that can be used to navigate rocky and recalcitrant relationships
• Implicit and unconscious biases that can unravel our impact despite our best intentions

STEM for All earns a well-deserved spot on the bookshelves of all educators motivated to close the STEM gap and better prepare their students for future college and career opportunities in math and science fields.

Leena Bakshi M^CLean, Ed.D., is the founder and executive director of STEM4Real, a nonprofit focused on justice-centered, culturally relevant STEM education. With experience as a teacher, instructional coach, and administrator, she has consistently shaped educational practices through an equity lens. Dr. McLean also hosts the Teaching STEM #4Real Podcast and is a sought-after international speaker, consultant, and advisor to schools and organizations.

Textauszug

Acknowledgments

I am the granddaughter of Dr. Prafulla Chandra Bakshi, Sujata Bakshi, Kollegal Lakshminarasimha Garudachar, and Lalitha Garudachar. My dad was one of three children and the only son. Thus, he was the only one sent to an English school while my aunts went to the local school in town. His education led him to Mumbai, where my mother was working as a school teacher (the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree). They eventually landed on 3rd Street of downtown Los Angeles. After my grandfather (Dr. Bakshi) passed away, my dad had to immediately fly to India, compromising his visa, and leaving his family alone for six months. I wasn’t yet born, but during that time, my mother and sister, who was five years old, experienced a terrifying home invasion, but my mother, strong as ever, screamed “Get out!” and the intruder did. By the time I arrived into this world, my parents were nestled in the suburbs of Los Angeles County. I want to acknowledge the journey, strife, and triumph that my parents have been through in seeking out greater opportunities.

My parents were convinced that I would carry on my grandfather’s spirit by becoming a doctor. That dream existed until I received my MCAT scores (although I did get a perfect score on the writing section, go figure). I took my mother’s advice to get my teaching credentials and soon after that my mother alerted me that there was an open position for an eighth-grade math and science teacher. I was hired immediately to start teaching with three weeks of school left in the year. At the time I was hired, I thought they were impressed with my powerful educational quotes of Paulo Friere and Lev Vygotsky. When I entered the classroom on my first day, I knew they were simply grateful to have a warm body to take over. The substitute who was in place briefed me on how the students had a rotation of substitutes and it has been a party all year. Some students were playing slip-and-slide using soap and water from the sink. I came home in tears. My mother said, “You better march right back in that classroom and let them know who the adult is. Call the parents. Call each and every parent and introduce yourself!” I did just that and the rest was history. After my first year of teaching at the district of my alma mater, I knew I had found my jam. It was the most magical year of growth, hardship, and celebration, and then I was laid off. The educational system can be unstable, and we lose many great educators. Somehow, I have been able to carve out a place for myself in the education spaces and I am grateful for all of my students and colleagues. I want to thank every single one of my students, who have shared their learning journeys with me and taught me something about myself each and every school year.

I also want to thank the STEM4Real team for unapologetically implementing a vision for STEM for ALL. I want to acknowledge every single STEM4Real Educator, or how we like to call them, STEM4Real Netties. Every single Netty is a proud member of the STEM4Real network of schools, districts, and charters that have engaged in professional learning. STEM4Real is not just more professional development; this is an educational movement. In this book, you will find what I call “Netty Spotlights,” which shine a light on the impact of the #4Real educators that have paved pathways for their students in STEM. The National Education Association defines a co-conspirator as someone who is compelled to take action against racism and oppression, regardless of the consequences. They sacrifice their own privilege and power in the daily battle for equity. My colleagues have served as my fellow co-conspirators. My mentor Marie Bobias Bacher put it best: “I was so quiet the first time I was in these spaces. I didn’t think I belonged. I had amazing allies who helped me gain my confidence and help me grow as a leader in STEM.” I want to acknowledge all of the administrators and leaders in education that have partnered and continue to partner with STEM4Real. It started out as a wild idea of teaching the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) through an equity and justice-centered lens. It has now been cemented as our motto: Standards + justice, you never have to choose!

I want to acknowledge my husband and his journey of making it. When my husband was in high school, he was labeled as “not a math person.” He was encouraged to take on labor jobs and was laughed at when he started to think about pursuing college courses in engineering. Despite the naysayers and formidable circumstances, he went on to graduate magna cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering, followed by a master’s degree, and he is now pursuing his Ph.D. But here is my question: What if we had a system of education that supported and encouraged students like my husband in their pathways to STEM? He may not have understood mathematics then; however, now he’s doing graduate-level mathematics (I personally never made it passed Calculus II). Our power as educators is formidable. This is why I want to acknowledge Dr. Tyrone B. Hayes, world renowned endocrinologist from UC Berkeley and my endocrinology professor. He also serves on the STEM4Real advisory board. When I was in class one day, he posed this question: “If you want a male birth control, get more female researchers. If you want a cure for sickle-cell anemia, get more Black scientists." That quote immediately came back to me when I saw the lack of diversity in our science and STEM curricula. If our students want to get into STEM, they need to see #4Real STEM professionals that look like them. Thus, STEM4Real was born, and we wrote the first children’s book, There’s Something in the Water, which showcases the life of little Tyrone, the frog scientist. I’m grateful for my college roommate and dear friend Dr. Crystal Bray, who normalized Black in STEM and redefined the narrative against Black women. In fact, her mom also wanted to see her as a doctor. She said, “Given my background and upbringing, I realized that the physics I studied wouldn’t be immediately useful to my family or friends. So, when I started my career, I wanted to make science serviceable—to my community, family, and friends. This was to ensure that I gave back to all those who gave to me. Benefiting them with the knowledge they had sacrificed for. Although my mom wanted me to be a medical doctor, I feel like she would have been proud of me being a physicist as well.” Crystal serves on the STEM4Real Advisory Board.

This is going to sound wild, but I want to thank the few reviewers who provided their negative feedback and said that they would not recommend the publication as presented. Amidst all the positive feedback from the field, these few reviews reminded me that if achieving STEM for ALL were easy, we would be doing it already. There will be naysayers. However, when we have a broken system, we must be the curators and builders of multiple pathways to STEM. This means that we might have to completely change our mindsets on who we think belongs in STEM. If the answer is everyone, then we must build pathways where everyone has an opportunity to access STEM. I want to acknowledge my editor, Ashante Thomas, and the team at Jossey-Bass. The universe brought us together and it was no accident. I was determined to write a book on equity and STEM and, in a world full of book bans, she advocated for this work and made it happen. Miraculously, in a childcare crisis, the words came onto paper while I was juggling an infant and a toddler. Shout out to all the mamas and dadas out there! My children are the great grandchildren of a Native Hawaiian who was born with a birth certificate that displays Hawaii as a self-governing US territory and went on to become a mechanical engineer at Lockheed and taught programming courses in his spare time. It is a reminder that through the brutal histories that our ancestors experience, we can empower ourselves by leveraging STEM to create a just society.

In STEM education, an opportunity refers to any situation, program, initiative, resource, or experience that enhances learning, engagement, and achievement in STEM-related subjects and disciplines. As American economist and attorney, Roger W. Ferguson Jr. states, “When we limit the diversity in STEM, we limit the potential for discovery and advancement. Everyone should have the opportunity to contribute and excel.” This book is the result of all the opportunities and platforms I have had thanks to the footsteps of our ancestors. As I traversed from teacher to instructional coach to administrator to university professor to nonprofit founder, I have been privileged to see education from multiple seats. I’m still growing and reflecting on my own journey, and I thank you for joining me in this critical reflection of our education system, particularly in STEM. I’m grateful for the opportunity to lead implementation of the NGSS at the county and state levels. I have learned so much from the teachers, coaches, and administrators as we have collaborated on instructional planning, professional learning, decision-making, and advocacy. I’ve been honored to serve on the boards of directors for the California Association of Science Educators and the National Science Teaching Association. Sometimes I find myself with a seat at the table and sometimes I do not. Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm famously said, “If they don’t give you a seat at the table, bring a folding chair.” My dream is that this book is everyone’s folding chair. This book is your invitation to speak up, step up, and advocate for...

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 18.10.2024
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Sozialwissenschaften ► Pädagogik ► Bildungstheorie
• Schlagworte: classroom culture • educational bias • education justice • K-12 teachers • Math education • School reform • science education • stem career • stem instructors • stem opportunities • stem skills gap • student culture • Student learning • teaching reform • Tyrone B. Hayes
• ISBN-10: 1-394-22145-2 / 1394221452
• ISBN-13: 978-1-394-22145-5 / 9781394221455