Physics teachers’ dispositions related to culturally relevant pedagogy

Abstract

In light of recent efforts to increase the diversity of the physics workforce, the need to counter the long-term marginalisation of students of colour from physics has received more attention. Culturally relevant pedagogy (CRP) is a multicultural approach to teaching and learning designed to attend to students’ culture as starting points toward learning canonical disciplinary knowledge (Ladson-Billings, 1995). This research explored physics teachers’ dispositions regarding implementing culturally relevant practices in their classrooms. The study participants were a select group of physics teachers expressing interest in culturally relevant instruction (n = 6). The teachers participated in interviews using a semi-structured protocol. Interviews were transcribed and analysed using inductive coding. Interview analysis showed four categories of teacher dispositions about CRP: (1) recognition of CRP as a need for various approaches to teaching, (2) use of culture as a pedagogical reference, (3) recognition of systemic inequities, and (4) recognition of the role of socio-political factors in CRP. Despite the productive beginning identified, the results also suggest that these physics teachers had difficulty identifying precisely how to enact culturally relevant practices in their physics instruction. This result indicates the need for further research into physics teachers’ thinking about and using culturally relevant pedagogy.