Chapter 7 in Surrounded by Science talks about closing the gaps between the values, beliefs and practices of particular cultures and communities and the values and practices that are embodies in Western science. It was interesting to learn about the challenges that informal environments face in trying to be accessible to all people. There are social, economic, ethnic, cultural and historical factors that influence the types of access and opportunities that informal environments provide to learners.
The chapter focuses on the challenge it is to reach and incorporate members of traditionally underrepresented groups. The chapter states that these are the challenges of engaging nondominant groups in sciences that are demonstrated in studies: inadequate science instruction exists in most elementary schools, especially those serving children in low income and rural areas; girls often do not identify strongly with science or science careers; students from nondominant groups perform lower on standardized measures of science achievements than their peers; although the number of individuals with disabilities pursuing postsecondary education has increased, few pursue academic careers in science or engineering; and learning science can be especially challenging for all learners because of the specialized language involved. I never really thought about all these challenges or how one learning environment may not be equitable to all people that it caters to. It is not enough to expose individuals form a nondominant group to the same environment because that environment may be designed with the dominant culture in mind. This shows that greater consideration is needed when designing such learning environments, with cultural and contextual issues taken into account.
I liked how in the chapter discussed that in order to achieve equity a connection between home and community cultures of diverse groups to science is needed. There needs to be a connection between the life of the learner and science so that they can get the most out of the experience and so that the learning experience can provide a meaningful experience. The chapter discusses the affect of the lack of diverse staff and lack of culturally relevant content in environments has on underrepresented groups, which is that they do not feel welcome or comfortable in those environments.
In an effort to make these environments better for nondominant groups, dialogue between designers of the learning environments and the communities and people that the place targets is necessary and important as discussed in the chapter. I enjoyed reading about the Children’s Discovery Museum in San Jose, California. It was interesting to learn about how they tried to make an exhibit that reflected the growing Vietnamese population. It took into account the opinions and ideas of the Vietnamese community as it designed the exhibit and continued to make improvements to the exhibit as more feedback came in. It even discovered a difference between first generation Vietnamese members and subsequent generations. They learned that first generation members valued their cultural tradition and liked sharing their memories of life and traditions in Vietnam while the younger generations seem less tied to Vietnamese customs and have limited reading and writing abilities. This was an example of the value of drawing participants’ cultural practices to design informal learning settings by using everyday language, linguistic practices and cultural experiences. The chapter then talks about “universal design,” the practice of accommodating all visitors regardless of their ability levels, which tends to make designed learning spaces accessible all.
It was also fascinating to learn about the hardships that institutions face in trying to implement practices that will make it more accessible to people. There are costs for translations, proofing and production. There are decisions needed to made about what languages and cultures to include when designing an exhibit. However, one solution was offered in the reading for electronic labels to be used to display multiple languages and offer even more detailed information when called for. This may be an expensive solution, however, it would address and solve some challenges that occur when creating an exhibit.
Overall, it was interesting to learn that informal learning settings should be designed in a way that takes into account the interests and concerns of the community that it is catering to. There must be considerations for variation in beliefs, values and norms of social interaction like different family structures and gender roles. This can be done by listening to and incorporating ideas from educators and community members which the environment will serve. These types of settings should also incorporate the “cultural variability of social structures”, which should be reflected in the educational design.
