Wallace and Brand's framing of culturally responsive science teaching through the lens of critical race theory honors the role of social justice in science education. In this article, I extend the discussion through reflections on the particular learning needs of students from oppressed cultural groups, specifically African Americans.…

Zoo signs are important for informal learning, but their effect on visitor perception of animals has been sparsely studied. Other studies have established the importance of informal learning in American society; this study discusses zoo signs in the context of such learning. Through the lens of Critical Theory framed by informal learning, and by…

Research studies using discourse analysis approaches make claims about phenomena or issues based on interpretation of written or spoken text, which includes images and gestures. How are findings/interpretations from discourse analysis validated? This paper proposes transdisciplinary convergence as a way to validate discourse analysis approaches to…

This study investigates how Latina/Latino youth resist, conform to, and persist in schooling, and explores their preparation for an education in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields. Using Latino Critical Race Theory as a framework, evidence of the "sticky mess" of racial inequalities (Espinoza and Harris in"…

The future of this country depends on utilizing human intellectual resources from varying viewpoints to make informed decisions on issues from conservation biology to biotechnology, or even bioengineering. An increase in Latina/o students in the biological sciences would bring a variety of viewpoints, as well as personal and cultural experiences…

Culturally responsive science teaching is using knowledge about the culture and life experiences of students to structure learning that is conducive to their needs. Understanding what teachers need to prepare them to be culturally responsive is a matter of continuous debate. As the focus of multicultural education ventures farther away from its…

We review "Key Works in Critical Pedagogy: Joe L. Kincheloe" edited by Kecia Hayes, Shirley R. Steinberg and Kenneth Tobin, which gathers the seminal works of Joe. L. Kincheloe and pairs them with contemporary scholars who respond to and push forward Kincheloe's work. The chapters of "Key Works in Critical Pedagogy" are arranged to begin with…

In this issue of Cultural Studies of Science Education, Mack and colleagues (Mack et al. "2011") seek to identify the necessary components of science education in Indigenous settings. Using a review of current research in informal science education in Indigenous settings, along with personal interviews with American educators engaged in these…

John Settlage's article--"Counterstories from White Mainstream Preservice Teachers: Resisting the Master Narrative of Deficit by Default"--outlines his endeavour to enable pre-service teachers to develop culturally responsive science teaching identities for resisting the master narrative of deficit thinking when confronted by the culturally…

We discuss Konstantinos Alexakos, Jayson Jones and Victor Rodriguez's hermeneutic study of formation and function of kinship-like relationships among inner city male students of color in a college physics classroom. From our Critical Complexity Science framework we first discuss the reading "erlebnisse" of students laughing at and with each other…

This article is a response to Randy Yerrick and Joseph Johnson's article "Negotiating White Science in Rural Black America: A Case for Navigating the Landscape of Teacher Knowledge Domains". They write about research conducted by Yerrick in which videos of his teaching practice as a White educator in a predominately Black rural classroom were…

In this forum, we summarize CRT's origins, tenets common to most CRT writings, and CRT's evolution. We discuss Yerrick's article "Negotiating White Science" with respect to certain CRT premises. Specifically, we use the CRT tenet of racism as emphasized in first- and second-generation CRT and CRT elements liberal racial ideology and voices of…

What is the role of education in wartime? To what extent should environmental and science educators directly address violent conflict and a culture of prolonged war? This article gestures with empathy toward all educators who are working in wartime. It posits that a critical pedagogy of place provides a theoretical framework that contextualizes…

Working across boundaries of power, identity, and political geography is fraught with difficulties and contradictions. In Tali Tal and Iris Alkaher's, "Collaborative environmental projects in a multicultural society: Working from within separate or mutual landscapes?" the authors describe their efforts to do this in the highly charged atmosphere…

I describe how Joe Kincheloe experienced learning from a peer during his pre-school life only to see how his friend was unable to succeed at school. Joe's commitment to empowered cognition was grounded first, by his friend, Larry's mentorship--teaching him the environmental nuances of the mountains in rural Tennessee, and secondly, the…