Thank you for the comment and engaging question. The authentic science work with students all started off with teachers doing the heavy lifting of unpacking these ideas through intensive Learning Labs and one-on-one instructional support. The arch of their learning naturally evolved into taking a critical look at our instruction and curriculum. Through the Social Focus Design Process we were able to collectively design learning experiences for students that are described in the Social Focus Framework. 

A recent authentic science example we implemented with second grade teachers was a Multispecies Interconnectedness & Relationships unit on Seed Guardians. The learning was developed to engage students in thinking about the consequential concern of loss of seed diversity and the impact and role of animals and humans on seed dispersal and sustainability. This Social Focus attended to students’ prior learning by creating science investigations on variables that threaten seeds, while simultaneously positioning students as change makers. Critical & Liberatory Presencing was done with the inclusion of content on Seed Guardians from Latin America, Africa and Black farmers in the United States. Students were able to use their own life experiences, connections, and knowledge with seed cultivation and protection to connect school science to their families, communities, and cultures.

Karen, thank you for watching our video! Jessica's statement also stands out to me as a common reflection we hear from teachers across our partnership--Teachers are not only saturated in a society perpetuating and swimming in White Supremacy Culture and racism, but they are rarely, if ever, given the opportunity to unpack the inherent racist and colonial systems undergirding education. For me, one of the most powerful aspects of the Social Focus framework has been the dimension of "Critical Consciousness" (shout-out to Anastasia Sanchez for developing the Social Focus). Our team designed the PD cycles and our work with teachers to begin here because we believe that essential to changing the education is first noticing and critically interpreting the system and also their individual powerful positionalites as perpetuators of harm and disruptors of educational injustice. We did this by explicitly unpacking the role of science (and science education) through a critical historical lens, with pauses for personal and communal reflection of how these histories have/are impacting curriculum, instructional practices and our individual ideas about science/science learning. Then, our group layered on thinking about what it would mean to ground science teaching/learning in the other two dimensions (Critical Liberatory Presencing and Matters of Consequential Concern) by examining who and what are centered in current curriculum and discussing what should be taught in/through science. Together these dimensions created a powerful map for teachers to not only inspect their current practice but also create new curricula and reflect (individually or in community) on their teaching. 

If you have more specific questions, we'd be happy to answer them! 

We appreciate the kind comment and interest in the Social Focus Framework. I see Kelsie already responded to you but for a bit more context about the Social Focus Framework, it was created by one of our brilliant team members Anastasia S. Sanchez. The initial idea originated in a Middle School partnership with science educators who were concerned about students' lives and realities not being reflected in science learning. It has since grown to the district and teacher level. The design of the Social Focus Framework is to help educators design lessons with intentionality to develop students’ critical consciousness, attend to matters of consequential concern and embed critical liberatory presencing of Black, Brown and Indigenous communities. 

Check out this partnership (Link) to explore how this can be an opportunity to center the Social Focus Framework in an Elementary Ed RPP.

Appreciate that you are seeing some connection to your own work! We’d love to know more about the “social focus” you are using in your work! How are these topics chosen? How are these topics explored with students? How do you all presence your local Indigenous communities in liberatory ways that honor their expertise? Asking because these are always questions we are asking ourselves and juggling :)

Also, our project is not centered in a rural setting but we’d love to know more about what you are noticing or wondering about how social networks develop differently in rural settings. We do strive to center the students and communities over centering the school as we work to shift the traditional narrative of how schools are positioned in our communities. Our goal is to always elevate the expertise of Black, Brown and Indigenous communities in our network but this definitely comes with challenges and constraints. We’d love any ideas on how to approach this work differently.

Thank you for the question, Brian. We have two learning pathways for teachers, one with deep engagement and curriculum development (N=30 teachers) and one that meets 5 times per year (N=40 teachers). Each pathway has similar content that engages teachers in examining curriculum and instructional practice with an anti-racism and anti-colonialism lens. We have engaged teachers in examining their positionality as white teachers and teachers of color, and have done audits of how this positionality influences what and how we teach elementary science. We as a research team are continuously examining our positionality and how this plays a part in professional learning. Our professional learning model also includes 1-on-1 coaching in classrooms and grade-level professional learning communities.

Thank you so much for this question! While our engagement with school leaders has been limited we have invited principals to partner with us to co-observe and debrief social focus lessons. We are hopeful that we'll engage more principals in classroom observations in the coming months to both support their learning and consider how to deepen and expand this approach to instruction within their building. We are also working on an observation tool to support principal learning and instructional leadership now that teachers are shifting their practices to take up science in more critical ways. In the meantime, we have kept leaders updated through newsletters and personal emails sharing the work being done by their teachers and students! 

While our partnership with school leaders is still in the very early phases, we have been working with district leaders both in Edmonds and in other districts through our Educator Series. The Educator Series involves five professional development sessions throughout the year where teachers dive into this critical content and start trying things out in their classrooms. We have invited district leaders into this space to consider how they can apply this approach to science in their own roles in both their support for teachers and school leaders. We know that expanding and sustaining anti-racist and anti-colonial teaching will take leadership at multiple levels of the system and we are working to foster the learning and commitment needed to support teachers instructional practices.  

Great questions! We have teachers participating in the project from 19 out of the 21 elementary schools and 4 choice schools in the current district we are working with. Your standards question is a good one! The project was not focused on unpacking or learning about the standards but rather having the standards come in when we were discussing justice centered phenomena and student interest. The content for professional development was developed by part of the research team, primarily Anastasia Sanchez and Kelsie Fowler. The lesson resources were developed by the research team and participating teachers.

Thanks Amy =) Nice to hear from you! 

We have engaged teachers in looking critically at the curriculum- noticing ways in which it addresses/fails to address justice-centered phenomena and looking at if/how the curriculum attends to the rightful presence of BIPOC communities and knowledge. Teachers and researchers have written curricula that center on justice-centered phenomena and have thought about how to engage students in conversations about multi-species justice and representation in STEM, for example. Ultimately we are helping teachers shift curriculum so they can shift their instruction and we can create more expansive opportunities for students to learn. 

Hey Clausell =) Thanks for your comments, friend. We are helping teachers think about issues of social justice alongside the standards and their knowledge of their students and their communities. Much of the standard curriculum does not engage students in thinking about climate change, for example, yet we know that young children reason with these issues and share a deep concern for animals and the environment. So some of the units center on multispecies justice and caring for the environment. We always start with the justice-centered phenomena, then pull in relevant science ideas and standards.