Kobe's story: Doing science as contested terrain

Abstract

Science education in poor, urban settings in the U.S. is fraught with inequalities in terms of resources, access of educative opportunities, and quality of science instruction. These inequalities are further exacerbated for homeless youth who must also deal with the daily realities of shelter living, transience, school transfers, and social stigmas. Responses to the challenges faced in urban science education have ranged from writing new science standards and holding students more accountable for the problems inherent in the schooling system to offering students vouchers to attend "better schools." Absent in all of these responses is an attempt to understand the science experiences of youth living in urban poverty and how those experiences can help us to craft scientific practice and science education in more culturally situated, inclusive, and socially just ways. In this paper the author draws from a critical perspective to argue for the importance of understanding the doing of science as contested terrain as one way to better get to know and understand urban homeless youth and how we might work best with them in school science. To make this case an overview is first provided of the critical stance that frames the research presented in this manuscript. Following this overview, Kobe's story about science and life in the inner city is told. Then, using Kobe's story, a case is made for why doing science in poor urban settings is contested terrain and why this idea is a useful lens for making sense of youths' lives. Finally, the author concludes by discussing the implications of understanding both youth lives and science education as contested terrain for school science reform policies and practices in poor, urban settings.