Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-q99xh Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-23T04:46:10.081Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

1 - Inclusion Is More Than an Invitation: Shifting Science Communication in a Science Museum

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 January 2024

Get access

Summary

Introduction

I’m from the Bronx and I travel two hours away to Queens to teach science because it makes me happy. And then seeing the faces of other little kids of colour when they like, see me do a ‘Cow Eye Dissection’. They might have never seen a Black person do that before. And they might have never seen a Black person as a scientist before. It's amazing because they’re being exposed to an experience that they never thought they would ever have had.

(Explainer E [17 years old])

As popular, public-facing institutions that are often perceived to be authoritative and trustworthy, science museums play an important role in public science education (National Research Council [NRC], 2009; Falk et al, 2012; National Science Foundation [NSF], 2012; Falk and Dierking, 2018; American Alliance of Museums [AAM], 2021). Through engaging with visitors and local communities, science museums contribute to longterm impacts on the public's scientific literacy and understanding (Falk and Needham, 2011) and provide resources for schools and teachers to support students’ learning and motivation in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) (NRC, 2009).

At the same time, girls, African Americans, Latinx, and Indigenous students of all genders are often marginalised in formal STEM educational settings starting from an early age, are chronically underrepresented in STEM career pathways, and have been consistently shut out of high-quality STEM education and opportunities (Committee on Underrepresented Groups, 2011; McGee, 2020). This is a critical issue because, as has been evident during the COVID-19 pandemic, science literacy and thinking skills are essential to the quality of our decision-making. As science museums, it is our mission to ensure that all children and students have equal access and opportunity to engage with STEM tools and methods to be active participants who create their own world and future and to contribute to the future of STEM professions.

Recently, researchers, educators, leaders, and policy makers in informal science education have raised their voices, demanding inclusiveness, diversity, and equity in the broad ecosystem of STEM education (Dawson, 2014; Feinstein and Meshoulam, 2014; AAM, 2021; Ba et al, 2021; National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine [NASEM], 2021).

Type
Chapter
Information
Race and Socio-Cultural Inclusion in Science Communication
Innovation, Decolonisation, and Transformation
, pp. 19 - 34
Publisher: Bristol University Press
Print publication year: 2023

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×