Community assets can help teachers think about how to teach science in ways that leverage student contexts and lived experiences as productive resources for science learning. Knowing what is valued in a community offers a lens into and connections with local culture. Community asset mapping, a process of inventorying assets, public capital, and cultural resources available to a specific community, provides teachers an entry point for engaging in the work of equitable teaching that supports meaningful science learning for all students. Getting to know students and the communities that they come from is important work that needs to be done before teachers can engage in the complex work of designing equitable and inclusive learning environments. Presenters will share work they have done with teachers in contexts near Nashville, Tennessee and in Hawaiʻi and how teachers were able to envision ways they could leverage community assets in science instruction.

Session Recording

STEMS² Pillars: Sense of Place, Advocacy