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A critical ethnography of multicultural science classrooms: A model for change
Abstract
This critical ethnographic research study of multicultural science classrooms, with teachers actively involved in every aspect of the research study, was designed to gain an increased understanding of the context and complexities of those classrooms and to explore teacher beliefs that underlie educational reform. Three teachers at a Junior High School with approximately 35 percent minority population, were involved in this collaborative study. The teachers were encouraged to reflect on their teaching by examining classroom transcripts, videos of their teaching, researchers notes and observations, teaming with the researcher in teaching their students, and frequent dialogue concerning the data gathered. Themes were constructed from statements, events and interpretations of documents. Teacher beliefs were identified and clarified using metaphors appearing in audio and video tapes of classrooms, interviews, and observations of practice in classrooms. The themes identified included multicultural and equity issues and beliefs about teaching, students, learning and social control. The results of this study revealed that the idiosyncratic and ambiguous context within multicultural science classrooms appears to accentuate teacher needs for organization and control resulting in classrooms that were characterized by teacher-centered instruction and the use of standard textbooks and assessments. The reflective, interactive, critical ethnographic methodology utilized in this study resulted in the increased ability of the teachers to identify multicultural issues, and to expose and examine the beliefs that were driving their practice. The resulting teacher changes and the increased understanding of multicultural science classrooms led to the identification of some significant factors to be considered for science education reform, including: (1) Teachers must be at the heart of the change process through involvement in the creation, design, and field-testing of curriculum, (2) Understanding teacher beliefs is a first step toward understanding how to affect the change processes of schooling, and (3) Facilitating reflective practice, action research, and collaboration among teachers empowers them to become the change agents of education.
Subject Area
Curricula|Teaching|Science education
Recommended Citation
Johnson, Judith Schick, "A critical ethnography of multicultural science classrooms: A model for change" (1992). ETD collection for University of Nebraska-Lincoln. AAI9233403.
https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/dissertations/AAI9233403