Moving White Educators from Culturally Responsive Theory to Practice

At a diverse urban high school in Pittsburgh, PA, a nearly all-White teaching staff has struggled for years to improve culturally-responsive teaching practices. Despite attending hours of workshops, lectures and trainings on matters related to equity, social justice, culturally responsive pedagogy, and more, teachers generally reported an insignificant impact on actual practice. This research project attempted to close the gap between theory and practice, and train teachers to develop and implement culturally responsive lessons. Working with five White science educators, this study was structured around a series of in-depth professional development experiences focused on a) exploring Whiteness in society and in STEM, b) exploring scientific racial justice issues, c) studying high-quality culturally responsive social justice science curricula, and finally conceptualizing, creating, and implementing a culturally responsive science lesson. Despite some limitations particular to the relationship of the researcher to the participants, unique structure and autonomy of the school, findings suggest that White science educators are capable of making gains in their ability to understand and implement culturally science curriculum, provided their professional development is content-specific and practice-based. Further commentary addresses lack of effective teacher training, deep signs of concern about a shrinking and increasingly White teacher pipeline, and prioritizing content-specificity and practice-based professional development