Deconstructing Social Constructs: Exploring Teachers’ Positionality When Teaching Race and Human Diversity in the Science Classroom

This article reports on how four urban high school biology teachers’ positionality impacts their experiences when teaching culturally responsive lessons on race and human diversity. Teachers in the study taught a two-week genetics intervention lesson on race and human diversity, then participated in individual and focus group interviews. Interview transcripts were analyzed using thematic analysis. Results reveal that teachers who were empowered by their racial positionality and had prior professional development in culturally responsive pedagogy (CRP) were more likely to believe that science instruction can be used to address unscientific misconceptions amongst high school students. These findings give credence to utilizing CRP training that allows teachers to explore how their positionality can affect ideas related to teaching culturally responsive lessons on race and human diversity