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Empowering Diversity in Informal Science Education: Urban Explorers Program

Tonya D. Jeffery (University of Houston-Downtown, USA), Lizette Navarrete-Burks (University of Houston-Downtown, USA), and Sarah Albrecht (University of Houston-Downtown, USA)
Copyright: © 2025 |Pages: 502
EISBN13: 9798337341798|DOI: 10.4018/979-8-3693-1894-2.ch016
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Abstract

This chapter discusses the opportunities, challenges, and impact of delivering informal STEM learning experiences to minoritized middle school female students (grades 6-8) in urban school districts through the Urban Explorers program. It introduces a framework for establishing equitable school district-university partnerships, highlighting the need for collective expertise in various actions and skills. This approach supersedes traditional equity efforts, shifting from inclusion and access paradigms to more liberatory forms of accessing STEM knowledge. The chapter underscores the importance of equity-oriented watchfulness and introspection among university faculty members, fostering ethical praxis that responds to young people's cultural and intellectual activity. The informal learning framework, centering questions of power and justice, aims to challenge narrow deficits in schooling and STEM disciplines, promoting more liberatory forms of disciplinary learning conducive to the thriving of youth from minoritized communities.
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