NJSSA POSITION STATEMENT: SCIENCE EDUCATION AND MULTI-CULTURALISM

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Educators and demographers are rather confident that at the beginning of the twenty-first century, the classroom will be quite different from that of the twentieth century. The United States Census of 1990 revealed an explicit change in the racial make up of the nation. Based on this Census, it was quite evident that since 1985 there had been a major shift toward minorities. The 1990 Census also showed the rapid growth of Asian-American population from 1980 to 1990 and that Asian-Americans are no longer concentrated in only a few areas (the population has now spread to many states). The more prominent Asian groups attending schools in America are: Filipinos, Vietnamese, Japanese, Chinese, Koreans, Asian Indians, Cambodians, Laotians, and Pacific Islanders. 

Schools in America, especially New Jersey, are ethnically and racially becoming more diverse, and by the year 2000 the United States will be a nation in which one out of every three will be nonwhite. Students from “minority cultures” are “making up” more than fifty percent of the population in at least five states.

It is obvious that we are a state with science educators who have originated from many culturally diverse backgrounds. This is one of the many reasons that New Jersey has evolved as one of the leaders in the nation of science education. One of the goals of The New Jersey Science Supervisors Association (NJSSA) is to improve science education. Thereby, we re3alize the importance of cultural diversity and how important it is for everyone to be given the opportunity (and to be encouraged) to play an active role in science education. In fact, we are aware that the overall condition of science education is definitely dependent upon the opportunities provided and contributions of all people. The New Jersey Science Supervisors Association strongly recommends (and supports) the following:

1. School districts should develop programs and provide workshops for staff that explicitly show that diversity enriches science classrooms and all students can learn and be successful in science.
2. Science curricula should be examined and barriers removed so all students can take more challenging science courses.
3. Guidance counselors and science instructors should encourage all students to take the most challenging science courses.
4. School districts should make a genuine effort to determine the names of all of the existing summer programs and academic year enrichment programs that exist for culturally diverse students. Also, the district should have an explicit procedure for notifying all eligible students concerning these programs.
5. Culturally diverse children should be encouraged by science teachers and supervisors to participate in “after school” science research programs in which college professors and scientists serve as mentors.
6. Department chairpersons and/or supervisors should ensure that appropriate, meaningful, and motivational programs concerning career opportunities in science education are frequently scheduled to include culturally diverse children.
7. The science staff should attend workshops based on cooperative learning and different emphasis on students’ instructional preferences. Information learned from these workshops should be strongly considered and reflected in lessons that teachers develop. The classroom groups that are established during cooperative learning should reflect the culturally diverse “make up” of the class. Hopefully, students will begin to work better together and will develop a genuine respect for individuals who are ethnically different.
8. The science curriculum should be developed in such a manner that all students are considered.
9. Science teachers should be encouraged to attend workshops based on alternative assessment. They need to become distinctly aware that some students do not perform well on traditional tests. Different methods, approaches, and tests to determine the comprehension of students must be studied and developed.
10. School districts should establish a mentor program for culturally diverse students. They should develop lines of communications (and a working relationship) with local churches, civic groups, local industry and universities as they develop a list of adequate and interested mentors.
11. Science departments should develop a program in which a scientist adopts a class or a group of students. This scientist would serve as a resource person (and be “on call” for students at different times during the week).
12. School districts should actively recruit and hire culturally diverse teachers and administrators who are qualified.

NOTE: It is important to restate that the overall future of this state and country in science education is quite dependent on finding a way to obtain maximum participation and contributions from all students.