Speaker
Description
During this talk, I aim to facilitate a critical conversation about Black women's educational experiences in post-secondary physics and astronomy education in Canada. To accomplish this, I develop a framework to understand the normative physics and astronomy curriculum, wherein 'normative curriculum' refers to the learning and performance expectations that extend beyond what texts like syllabi, course outlines, and standard educational material might inform. Drawing on the literature reviewed in my doctoral study, I describe the educational experiences of women in North America and use these experiences to shape typical curricular expectations. To begin, I explore how education in post-secondary physics and astronomy programs is understood within research. A comprehensive review of critical thinkers in science education leads to the conceptualization of how individuals encounter the curriculum. Subsequently, I operationalize the notion of curriculum as experiences, as revealed by the research on and about White women, Women of Color, and Black Women who study, research, and work in the physical and astronomical sciences. In doing so, I gather themes from literature to highlight the often-overlooked commitments and tasks that women must fulfill to be recognized as legitimate physicists and astronomers. Following this, I describe areas of the normative physics and astronomy curriculum, detailing critical perspectives on thinking and learning in science education. Throughout this talk, I will make connections to findings from my current study on Black women's educational experiences, including how they navigate predominantly White and male-dominated spaces in Canada. By the end of this discussion, I hope to deepen our overall understanding of physics and astronomy education within a national context.
| Keyword-1 | Women |
|---|---|
| Keyword-2 | Curriculum |
| Keyword-3 | Critical |
