The Children Are Our Future…But Which Ones? Equity in STEM and Community

Format

Individual Presentation

First Presenter's Institution

Chicago Zoological Society

First Presenter’s Email Address

chris.conner@czs.org

First Presenter's Brief Biography

Philip-Michael Conner joined the Chicago Zoological Society at Brookfield Zoo as the Manager of the King Conservation Science Scholars in 2021. Prior to his career in conservation, Philip-Michael has served in several roles including high school teacher, early childhood educator and creative trainer for both Apple and Verizon. Within conservation, Philip-Michael has also served in several different roles including zookeeper, animal trainer and community outreach specialist. Philip-Michael has been recognized personally and communally for his work in mentorship and community. Philip-Michael is a Historically Black College and University grad, receiving a bachelor’s degree in Sociolinguistics and Animal Science from Tougaloo College, a graduate degree in Biological and Conservation Science from Miami University and is currently a doctoral student leading research regarding the impact of the Conservation Education strategy of using ambassador animals in youth engagement programs in zoos and aquariums as well as examining the white-washing of Black voices in Conservation Education.

Location

Session Three

Strand #1

Heart: Social & Emotional Skills

Strand #2

Home: Family & Community Engagement

Relevance

The proposed session relates to conference strands II and V. It will focus on cultivating an integrated learning ecosystem that utilizes an empathy-informed, culturally relevant pedagogical approach to education and community engagement that promotes and solidifies justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion in STEM. Supported through an equitable partnership, the programs evaluated and featured in this session were co-designed with the students and the communities they call home. This proposed session will share the action plan and practical techniques that were used to develop those youth engagement programs that celebrate identity, promote positive mental and social healthiness, support academic achievement and advocate for the entire community and not just the students within it.

Brief Program Description

They say teach them well. But which one of them and how are they being taught? This session features the empathy-informed, culturally relevant, pedagogical approach to education and community engagement that transformed two youth engagement programs to better support justice and equity in STEM. Participants will leave with a guide and practical tools used to center intersectionality and positionality of the students and their communities.

Summary

There are very few who would disagree that, indeed, the children are our future. However, as quiet as it’s kept, that number will subtly increase once those conversations deepen and begin the process of reallocating resources and intentional investing in strategies that brightens and widens that future to include all the children. Yes, even those from lower socioeconomic families, with disabilities, and who do not identify as white. Even with the rise of DEI awareness and training, most youth engagement programs within STEM remain, in structure, capacity and audience, largely able bodied, white, affluent or unfamiliar. This can change. The current design to youth engagement in STEM can be reimagined to reflect the multiple identities that keep progress moving forward. Yet, there must be a fundamental reconstruction to attract, welcome and embrace unfamiliar and apprehensive faces into these spaces. This interactive presentation has two primary goals. The first is to share the practical tools used and procedures necessary to co-design and redevelop youth engagement programs. This includes how to support socio-emotional learning, integrate accessibility, leverage placed-based learning and bring them all together utilizing the culturally relevant pedagogical approach to STEM. The second is to provide some of the empirical evidence and evaluation strategies, highlight the achieved learning outcomes, and feature some of the success and setbacks from two asset-based youth engagement programs. Co-designed with the participants and their communities, one program centered literacy proficiency as a gateway to promote equity and justice. Redeveloped for participants that were not actively engaged or communities excluded, the other program centered community engagement as a catalyst for accessibility and inclusion. Both programs have curriculums and infrastructures that emphasize identity and empathy. This presentation features community testimonials and is co-facilitated by a program leader, co-creator and participants. The tools gathered and lessons learned from this session can be used to grow any program and classroom.

Evidence

Both programs featured have documented successes in youth engagement. Amongst these successes include several global industry-specific science and education awards that include a Significant Achievement in Diversity and Top Honors in Education Award. The results of the community engagement of the programs has also been recognized via a State Cultural Fusion and city community service award. Through the various evaluation strategies of each program, that will be shared in session, participants show year over year increases in student involvement and leadership development. Many students and parents from both programs have self-reported increased levels of emotional intelligence, trust in interpersonal relationships, scientific reasoning, reading comprehension, and civic engagement. As of 2020, one program boasted a 100% college acceptance rate from all high school graduates and the other program offers unrestricted undergraduate scholarships and a graduate scholarship specifically created for students of African/African American and Latin descent.

Learning Objective 1

Recognize the foundational principles of culturally relevant pedagogy in STEM.

Learning Objective 2

Identify at least two components of social emotional learning and how they could be reflected in STEM.

Learning Objective 3

Navigate a selection of strategies and retrofit at least one to their respective program in an effort to enhance their DEAI efforts.

Keyword Descriptors

STEM, Community Advocacy, Empathy, Culture, Youth Engagement, Culturally Relevant Pedagogy, Inclusion, Accessibility

Presentation Year

2024

Start Date

3-4-2024 2:15 PM

End Date

3-4-2024 2:45 PM

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Mar 4th, 2:15 PM Mar 4th, 2:45 PM

The Children Are Our Future…But Which Ones? Equity in STEM and Community

Session Three

They say teach them well. But which one of them and how are they being taught? This session features the empathy-informed, culturally relevant, pedagogical approach to education and community engagement that transformed two youth engagement programs to better support justice and equity in STEM. Participants will leave with a guide and practical tools used to center intersectionality and positionality of the students and their communities.