An Anti‐Racist Classroom in the Natural Sciences

Most of would like to think of our classrooms as inclusive spaces where all students are provided with the same learning opportunities, with any “perceived” inequities attributed to misunderstandings. Often the focus in the sciences remains on the coverage of the content, the foundational knowledge and how we build on it. Then what does it mean to have an anti‐racist science classroom? Does providing students with examples of diversity among scientists “count”? Does showing students that they too can (potentially) have a place in science qualify as antiracist? To create an anti‐racist classroom requires an examination of our pedagogical approaches, our personalities, our language and our biases. It requires a critical eye toward how we teach, what we value and grade, and it includes who we are as individuals. We have to examine the scientific culture and its myths. We have to learn what we bring with us into the classroom, including the histories and practices of our fields that were (are?) often exclusionary. We have to look at who succeeds and why? Creating classrooms that de‐center the learning from a knowledge‐transfer professor‐centric model to one that engages with real‐life questions can bring diverse perspectives into sciences and enable us to build new models for teaching and learning. Strategies for creating anti‐racist classroom will require open minds and hearts along with a prolonged and sustained effort to undo centuries of oppression.