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Movement expressiveness, solidarity and the (re)shaping of African American students’ scientific identities

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Abstract

Science educators have yet to identify ways to enable inner city African American high school students to experience success in science. In this paper, we argue that understanding the ways in which cultural practices from fields outside of school mediate what happens inside classrooms and contribute to the learning of students is crucial to addressing current disparities in science performance. Specifically, we explore the significance of movement expressiveness dispositions to the lives and the learning of economically disadvantaged African American youth. These particular dispositions have been repeatedly observed in our research, and they can be important resources for the creation of individual emotional energy, collective solidarity, and heightened engagement in learning activities since they provide resources for the (re)shaping of identity. Thus movement expressiveness dispositions hold potential for transforming the teaching and learning of these students.

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Notes

  1. A number of student researchers have worked with us during the school year and summers. Here we use pseudonyms for the student researchers, their school peers, and their high school.

  2. The disproportionate percentage of African American students who are in special education and labeled as emotionally disturbed, along with their high rates of suspension, expulsion, and attrition (Noguera, 2003; Office of Special Education Programs, 2003) provide evidence of this type of cultural normativity.

  3. Swartz (1997) builds on Bourdieu’s conception of fields and describes them as temporal and spatial arenas where culture is enacted. In this paper, we refer to the neighborhood, home, science classroom and workplace as different fields. Fields fluctuate across location, time or through the presence of different participants.

  4. We view practices and dispositions as interconnected. Practices are patterned actions and dispositions are embodied tendencies to act.

  5. Throughout the manuscript, we use parentheses to represent the idea that actions and processes occurring in relation to identity at times produce a new form and at other times produce something that resembles an existing form—e.g., (re)form, (re)produce, (re)construct and (re)shape.

  6. In order to construct their video ethnographies, each student researcher recorded video footage of salient fields in their lifeworlds, and in most cases they edited the footage to produce a final representation. See Elmesky and Tobin (2005) for a detailed definition and examples of student researcher video ethnographies.

  7. Anita was a chemistry teacher at City High and also a teacher researcher who collaborated on the NSF grant.

  8. This vignette has been previously described in Elmesky and Tobin (2005). The analysis conducted here is significantly different.

  9. Remix refers to an alternative version of a song that is different from the original version in noticeable ways. It is a common phenomena in dance music, hip-hop, and R&B as verses are added to songs and beats conserved or modified to build on the audiences’ familiarity with the original song while also extending it in new directions to appeal to new listeners. Stanford law professor Lessig (2004) points out that much creative art as well as technological innovation has been derived in this way, and he advocates for a participatory remix process that might advance society in many arenas. We suggest that science is such an area.

  10. Polyrhythm is the simultaneous sounding of two or more independent rhythms.

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Acknowledgments

The research described in this paper is supported in part by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. REC-0107022. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in the book are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation. We are grateful to Michael Roth and Ken Tobin for their extensive theoretical feedback, encouragement and patience during this process.

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Correspondence to Rowhea Elmesky.

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Elmesky, R., Seiler, G. Movement expressiveness, solidarity and the (re)shaping of African American students’ scientific identities. Cult.Scie.Edu. 2, 73–103 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11422-007-9050-4

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