Agency Amidst Formidable Structures: How Girls Perform Gender in Science Class

Autor/inn/en	Carlone, Heidi B.; Johnson, Angela; Scott, Catherine M.
Titel	Agency Amidst Formidable Structures: How Girls Perform Gender in Science Class
Quelle	In: Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 52 (2015) 4, S.474-488 (15 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0022-4308
DOI	10.1002/tea.21224
Schlagwörter	Social Structure; Science Instruction; Gender Differences; Case Studies; Longitudinal Studies; Guidelines; Classroom Environment; Sexuality; Females; Educational Experience; Academically Gifted; Immigrants; Science Education; Femininity; Science Achievement; Peer Acceptance; Cultural Differences + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Sozialstruktur; Teaching of science; Science education; Natural sciences Lessons; Naturwissenschaftlicher Unterricht; Geschlechterkonflikt; Case study; Fallstudie; Case Study; Longitudinal study; Longitudinal method; Longitudinal methods; Längsschnittuntersuchung; Richtlinien; Klassenklima; Unterrichtsklima; Sexualität; Weibliches Geschlecht; Bildungserfahrung; Immigrant; Immigrantin; Immigranten; Naturwissenschaftliche Bildung; Femaleness; Weiblichkeit; Kultureller Unterschied
Abstract	Larger social structures such as race, class, gender, and sexuality and classroom structures like narrowly defined participation practices constrain individuals' agency to engage in untroubled and sustained science identity work. This article explores the central dilemma of attending to structure and agency in settings where inequities are blindingly pronounced. Using a framework that highlights gender as discursive performance, we examine a data set of 13 girls' engagement with school science from fourth to seventh grade (ages 9-13) that shows how structures of gender, race, and class became more salient for girls' trajectories over time. The gender performances that became most pronounced were: minimizing one's differences/fitting in, pleasing adults, and making oneself submissive or invisible. "Helping others" became a subversive, rather than celebrated, practice over time. To illustrate the themes with more depth, we present a longitudinal case study of Mirabel, an academically gifted and scientifically interested first generation immigrant to the US, whose science trajectory became increasingly precarious and entangled with larger social structures. A focus on structures pointed to the narrowly constructed classroom subject positions that left virtually no room to be simultaneously "girly" and "scientific" and the prominence of heteronormative versions of femininity. A focus on agency made evident that girls were less engaged with how to become scientific and more concerned with figuring out what kind of girl to be, given what was acceptable in the setting. We end with an account of Mirabel that highlights her resourcefulness and agency that make possible a hopeful shift in her trajectory. (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2020/1/01