The Emphasis on Multicultural Science Instruction in NSTA Science Scope and the Science Teacher Journals

Abstract

ABSTRACT Developing culturally responsive science teachers requires changes in one’s knowledge and dispositions, as well as one’s instructional practices. Multicultural science instruction (MSI) provides educators with a framework for strengthening and disrupting the formal curriculum in ways that infuse critical, historical, and culturally responsive connections. Practitioners need not only to see MSI modeled by teacher educators and their colleagues, but also to have concrete resources provided on their journey. While MSI has been defined and researched in academic literature for decades, there is not yet a clear understanding of how it is depicted in authoritative practitioner spaces—such as the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA)—where 40,000 members regularly seek out instructional resources. This potentially limits a major avenue for science teacher education toward inclusive, equitable ends. We conducted a review of 29 articles in the NSTA journals Science Scope and The Science Teacher to examine the nature and scope of MSI in secondary settings. NSTA publishes nine issues per journal each year, with approximately 15–30 entries per issue. Results indicated, on average, fewer than three MSI-focused articles were published per journal per year for the 10-year period under review. The characterization of MSI within articles was consistent with published scholarship. However, generally inclusive pedagogies dominated, rather than targeted approaches that advance the critical and emancipatory aims of MSI. Articles featuring family collaboration and sociopolitical consciousness represented 2% and 10%, respectively, of all observed MSI. Implications for supporting science teachers’ multicultural instruction with authoritative resources are discussed.