Rethinking equity: standpoints emerging from a community project with victims of violence and abuse in Argentina

Abstract

This article contributes to expand the definition of equity in education and science education through the consideration of the challenges and opportunities for addressing social justice issues in a particular community in Argentina. We discuss (a) the relationship between equity and culture and personal histories and heritage in education and (b) how research and education could respond to the needs and interests of communities, particularly marginalized and underrepresented ones. The community we describe experiences inequality at multiple levels. The case study presents a group of children, victims of family abuse and poverty, through the eyes of those working more closely with them. The research, initiated by some of the community participants uses participatory ethnography and narrative analysis but also draws from feminist standpoint theory to move beyond descriptive situated-knowledge accounts to foreground the transformative objectives. The research explores some of the necessary conditions for research and a science education that would meet objectives of equity and social justice. We argue that to expand the goals of science education toward equity, we need to understand the opportunities and challenges that marginalized and underrepresented communities provide.