Supporting Preservice Elementary Teachers in Teaching Science for Equity and Justice: A Practical Framework

Abstract

Drawing on four approaches to equity, this article presents a practical framework for helping pre-service elementary teachers work toward equity and justice in their science teaching. It describes how the framework has been used instructionally in an elementary science methods class and discusses the results of a pilot study of 31 preservice elementary teachers’ use of a pilot framework. It further illustrates how these participants’ lesson plans readily reflected teaching moves focused on increasing children’s opportunity and access to science learning and increasing achievement, representation, and identification.