Abstract
I reflect on studies by Rodriguez and Carlone, Haun-Frank, and Kimmel to emphasize the ways in which they excavate silences in the science education literature related to linguistic and cultural diversity and situating the problem of reform in teachers rather than contextual factors, such as traditional schooling discourses and forces that serve to marginalize science. I propose that the current push for top-down reform and accountability diminishes opportunities for receptivity, learning with and from students in order to transform teachers’ practices and promote equity in science education. I discuss tensions of agency and passivity in science education reform and argue that attention to authentic caring constitutes another silence in the science education literature. I conclude that the current policy context positions teachers and science education researchers as tempered radicals struggling against opp(reg)ressive reforms and that there is a need for more studies to excavate these and other silences.
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This review essay addresses issues raised in Alberto Rodriguez’ paper entitled: Exposing the impact of opp(reg)ressive policies on teacher development and on student learning and in Heidi Carlone, Julie Haun-Frank, and Sue Kimmel’s paper: Tempered radicals: elementary teachers’ narratives of teaching science within and against prevailing meanings of schooling.
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Rivera Maulucci, M.S. Excavating silences and tensions of agency|passivity in science education reform. Cult Stud of Sci Educ 5, 985–991 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11422-010-9280-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11422-010-9280-8