Date of Award

5-2026

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Teaching and Learning

Committee Chair/Advisor

Brooke A. Whitworth

Committee Member

Julianne A. Wenner

Committee Member

Kristen E. Duncan

Committee Member

Karen High

Abstract

Educational and societal inequities continue to hinder historically marginalized groups in STEM. Since the late 1990s, federal policy reports regarding science education have communicated directly about the underrepresentation of historically marginalized groups in STEM, specifically Students of Color, driven by concerns about maintaining economic superiority and notably lacking arguments to address our history of racism in science and science education. The omission of science education as a civil right and for the benefit of the student emphasizes the need for science educators to confront hegemonic ideologies of colorblindness, race neutrality, objectivity, and the view that racism is perpetuated by individual bias rather than institutional structures. This manuscript dissertation utilizes multiple methodologies to empirically examine the development of sociopolitical consciousness in elementary and middle grades science teachers. The first paper explores teachers’ grappling with racism in the construction of science knowledge and how they view this knowledge's impact on their future teaching practices. The second paper examines teachers’ experiences critically reflecting on their privilege and power within their own and others’ worlds, the culture of science in K-12 classrooms and their own classrooms, and the ways in which certain communities and cultures are sustained or interrupted in science education. The third paper critically analyzes teachers’ application of culturally relevant teaching practices in science lesson plans to support students' development of sociopolitical consciousness concerning the disruption of racism as it operates within science knowledge and science education.

Author ORCID Identifier

https://orcid.org/0009-0004-9957-6671

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