Becoming a science teacher: moving toward creolized science and an ethic of cosmopolitanism

In this paper I use the term non-dominant to describe people and groups who are racialized or Othered, that is, marginalized primarily by their race and ethnicity but also by language, or religion, recognizing that these statuses are often interconnected and overlaid. The groups I am concerned with are largely non-White, but I use non-dominant because it captures issues of power more than other terms. In the United States, this refers to historically Othered groups such as African Americans, Latinos, and Native Americans and also includes recent immigrants from some non-European countries. In Canada, this includes African Canadians, Caribbean Canadians, First Nations, and non-European immigrants. Marginalized, non-dominant groups elsewhere are African immigrants in France, the Maori in New Zealand, and the Aboriginal people in Australia, to name just a few. These particular groups are of concern because they are/have been kept out of mainstream social and economic advancement that those who can pass as Whites of European heritage have access to. In Canada, the phrase “visible minority” is often used to refer to these groups. It is a telling phrase because it conveys the exclusionary power associated with visible symbols of group membership such as skin color.

For example, in the United States, only 7.9% of public school teachers in the United States are African American (National Center for Education Statistics 2006) and, in science, only 4% of teachers in grades 9–12 are African American (Weiss et al. 2001). Similar data is not readily available in Canada. However, a large interview study conducted among African Canadian youth in Toronto public schools revealed that the absence of Black teachers was a primary concern of students (Sefa Dei 1996).

Although the terms “creole” and “creolized” have historically been used with a negative connotations, I use these terms with great respect for the populations who, out of necessity, developed Creole languages to counter oppressive situations and hope that we can use these terms in new productive ways that might help to end continuing oppression.

When I use ‘identify’ as a verb (to identify) or the noun ‘identification’ (the act of identifying) I mean that a person is able to see him/herself as connected to or present in the target group, that is, one or more of his/her narratives aligns in some way with available narratives and positions in the group.

Hybrid science identities among students and teachers signal the generation of a creolized form of science; similar to creolized languages, creolized science provides new opportunities for communication and participation for those who contribute to it and employ it. Emerging from situations of diaspora, creolized forms of science would combine (a) existing practices and symbols of science culture, (b) new practices and symbols of science culture and (c) possibilities for expanded action both in science and in other fields (Elmesky and Seiler 2007).

Pseudonyms are used for the teachers.

By allowing the life experiences of those with different histories and perspectives to be given voice, as suggested by critical race theory, we can call into question official knowledge. Thus, throughout the paper, I show the teachers’ writing, reflections and oral narratives in relatively long stretches and in italics in order to privilege their stories as counterstories to the dominant discourse of science and teacher education.

Call-and-response is an oral participation form common in West Africa and widely present in parts of the Americas impacted by the trans-Atlantic slave trade.

TV Land is a cable channel that shows ‘classic’ TV shows. In particular they broadcast some popular African American shows from the 1970s.

The role that Donna’s cooperating teacher played both in constraining and affording her identity (re)construction is explored in detail in another paper.

Sfard and Prusak (2005) refer to this as the gap between actual and designated identities.