| In the past decade, science education scholars have increasingly called upon the term "social justice" to reinforce claims to pursue quality education for marginalized students. At the same time, many classroom science educators within the U.S. are actively engaged in social justice oriented teaching practices. Yet, the field of social justice in science education is still in its infancy and relatively few examples of this practice exist within science education scholarship. This dissertation engages with this nascent field by seeking to clarify the possibilities and complexities involved in teaching and learning science for social justice. Using a qualitative case study methodology, I conducted research in a public charter high school environmental science classroom located in an urban U.S. city. The class consisted of Jack Carson, a white, male, middle class teacher in his fifth year teaching science in an urban high school, and his 25 African American and Black American students.;In Chapter 2, I situate science education in the context of three tensions that have been described in social justice education. After summarizing the claims within each tension and recommending ways to work towards social justice in science education, I then utilize science education scholarship to examine the ways educators have worked towards these recommendations. In Chapter 3, I present an analysis of Jack's classroom, using a critical framework for student empowerment that explores the students' academic, social, and political empowerment. My analysis reveals that educators may need to give heed to all three aspects of student empowerment simultaneously to work towards social justice in education. Chapter 4 explores the tension between critical knowledge, action, and disciplinary knowledge by analyzing three cases when one or more aspects of this tension were enacted in Jack's classroom. By situating science education within critical discussions about social justice and by examining classroom practices, this dissertation positions what occurred in Jack's classroom in relation to current movements---pedagogical, curricular, and political---for social justice school reform. |
