Resources for:
  • Current Students
  • Faculty & Staff
  • Alumni
  • Directory
  • News
  • Events
UCI School of Education
  • About Us
    • Dean's Welcome
    • Our Mission & Vision
    • Facts & Information
    • Climate Council
    • Maps & Directions
  • Academics
    • Ph.D. in Education
    • MAT + Credential
    • Undergraduate
  • Community Engagement
    • Overview
    • Teacher Academy >
      • California Reading & Literature Project
      • UCI CalTeach
      • UCI History Project
      • UCI Math Project
      • UCI Science Project
      • UCI Writing Project
    • Orange County Educational Advancement Network
    • Center for Educational Partnerships >
      • SAGE Scholars Program
      • COSMOS
      • California Alliance for Minority Participation
    • Center for Research on Teacher Development and Professional Practice
  • Faculty
    • Our Faculty
    • Faculty Interviews
    • Centers
    • publications
  • Giving

"Stories of Garlic, Butter, and Ceviche: Racial-Ideological Micro-Contestation and Microaggressions in Secondary STEM Professional Development"

9/16/2020

 
Alumna Jessica Tunney (Ph.D. ’19, right) published an article with colleagues in Cognition and Instruction on promoting heterogeneity in STEM learning.

The title of the article is “Stories of Garlic, Butter, and Ceviche: Racial-Ideological Micro-Contestation and Microaggressions in Secondary STEM Professional Development.”

Co-authors are Assistant Professor Tesha Sengupta-Irving (UC Berkeley) and Meghan Macias (UC Santa Barbara).
​
Tunney is founding principal and executive director of the TLC Charter School in Orange, California. Her background includes experience as general education teacher, special education teacher, professional development leader and coach, university teacher educator, and educational researcher. Tunney is committed to authentic and hands-on learning, inclusive practices and strategies, and ongoing reflection and collaboration as a tool for improvement and growth. Accordingly, TLC Charter School is dedicated to offering rich and rigorous learning opportunities to all students, including students with special needs and those from historically underserved communities. For her doctoral work, Tunney specialized in Learning, Cognition, and Development. Professor Elizabeth van Es served as her advisor.
Picture
Abstract
​
Heterogeneity is fundamental to learning and when leveraged in instruction, can benefit racially minoritized children. However, finding ways to leverage heterogeneity toward disciplinary teaching is a formidable challenge and teachers can benefit from targeted support to recognize heterogeneity in STEM, and its relationship to race and racism in disciplinary teaching. These data draw from a nine-day professional development seminar for secondary teachers to promote heterogeneity in STEM learning (n = 12). Drawing on analyses of lesson plans developed by teachers during the seminar, and subsequent video analyses of small group discussions, we present a case of four teachers debating heterogeneity in science. The exchange is significant because it draws into relief the ideological and emotional terrain of disturbing the racial hierarchy in which Western Modern Science (WMS) is steeped, and its implications for the education of racially minoritized youth. In the focus interaction, a dynamic emerged where three teachers exalted WMS, while the fourth grappled with how cultural heterogeneity has or could matter to her science teaching. Drawing on the constructs of racial-ideological micro-contestation and racial microaggressions, this analysis illustrates three important dimensions to the design of professional learning for STEM teachers that center race: (1) how discipline-specific discussions can uniquely surface the latent racial and ideological meanings teachers associate with STEM; (2) the centrality of teachers’ storied knowledge in grappling with heterogeneity; and (3) the interplay of micro-contestation and microaggressions in understanding and anticipating the experiences of minoritized teachers when debating issues of race, disciplinarity, and teaching.

Comments are closed.
Quick Links:

Fall 2021 Magazine
​Faculty & Research
Faculty Interviews
Directory
Admissions
​Giving
​News Center
Employment
Programs:
​
PhD in Education
MAT
Major in Edu Science
Minor in Edu Studies
CalTeach
CASE
Resources for:
​

​Current Students​
Faculty & Staff
University of California, Irvine
School of Education
401 E. Peltason Drive
Suite 3200
Irvine, CA  92617
(949) 824-8073

Picture
© ​2022 UC Regents 
  • About Us
    • Dean's Welcome
    • Our Mission & Vision
    • Facts & Information
    • Climate Council
    • Maps & Directions
  • Academics
    • Ph.D. in Education
    • MAT + Credential
    • Undergraduate
  • Community Engagement
    • Overview
    • Teacher Academy >
      • California Reading & Literature Project
      • UCI CalTeach
      • UCI History Project
      • UCI Math Project
      • UCI Science Project
      • UCI Writing Project
    • Orange County Educational Advancement Network
    • Center for Educational Partnerships >
      • SAGE Scholars Program
      • COSMOS
      • California Alliance for Minority Participation
    • Center for Research on Teacher Development and Professional Practice
  • Faculty
    • Our Faculty
    • Faculty Interviews
    • Centers
    • publications
  • Giving
  • Resources For:
  • Future Students
  • Current Students
  • Faculty & Staff

  • Search This Site
  • Directory
  • News
  • Events