Meeting Their Fullest Potential: The Beliefs and Teaching of a Culturally Relevant Science Teacher

Charlease P. Kelly-Jackson, Tambra O. Jackson

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DOI: 10.4236/ce.2011.24059                

Abstract

As elementary and middle school children of color continue to score poorly on science standardized tests, culturally relevant teaching has been shown to be an effective approach to addressing the social and academic needs of students from diverse backgrounds. In this article, we illustrate how the theory of culturally relevant pedagogy is embraced in the teaching beliefs of a sixth grade science teacher in a rural, low socioeconomic, predominantly African American school. The findings from a qualitative case study reveal beliefs and teaching practices consistent with three major tenets of culturally relevant pedagogy: conceptions of self and students; social relations; and perceptions of knowledge (Ladson-Billings, 2009). This study builds upon the culturally relevant pedagogy knowledge base by illustrating the tenets of this theory in the beliefs and teaching practices of a sixth grade science teacher.

Keywords

Culturally Relevant Pedagogy, Science Education, Teacher Beliefs, African American Students

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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