Physics teachers’ dispositions related to culturally relevant pedagogy

Figures & data

Table 1. Description of Participants Interviewed for Study.

Name	Description
Charles	A White male physics teacher working in an International Baccalaureate programme in a high school in the Western part of the United States with less than five years of experience. Charles was very passionate about issues of social justice in physics. Charles students are predominantly white from upper-income families.
Jamie	A White female physics teacher working at a high school in the southeast United States with less than five years of experience. Jamie was very passionate about issues of equity in physics. Jamie's students were racially diverse, but primarily came from middle-income families.
Justin	A male Asian-American physics teacher at a community college in the Western United States with three years of teaching experience. Justin is an immigrant from Vietnam who came to the U.S. for graduate school in physics. Justin led organisations to increase the participation of marginalised groups in physics teaching. Justin students are racially diverse from middle income families.
Sam	A Black male professor of physics at a Historically Black College and University in the southeast United States, with over twenty years of experience. Sam was active in diversity initiatives addressing the underrepresentation of marginalised groups in physics. Sam students are predominantly Black American from middle-income families.
Sofia	An Black female physics teacher at a school in the Southeast United States with five years of teaching experience. Sofia primarily taught at a school that served a high percentage of students of colour, primarily from low-income families. Sofia was originally a chemistry teacher, but due to her success in that course and the paucity of physics teachers, she was asked to teach primarily physics.
Thomas	A Hispanic-American male physics teacher at a high school located in the Midwestern United States with less than ten years of experience. Thomas taught physics at a suburban high school. He spent 20 years as an engineer before becoming a physics teacher. Thomas students were predominantly white from upper income family backgrounds.

Table

Theme	Code	Description and Example Data Point
Varied approaches to teaching	Using Scaffolding	Helping other students within the classroom context
		Ex: ‘if you kind of use scaffolding to remove that blocker, it will better help them grasp the information,’
	Varying Visuals to Support Learning	Using different visuals to explain physics concepts
		Ex: ‘I have a creative mind, so I bring out the creativity in my students.’
	Creating opportunities for injected relevance	Having innovative approaches to explaining physics concepts
		Ex: ‘it's also important to broaden their horizons so that they will think about things that they hadn't thought about before.’
	Conceptual Target	Conceptual understanding is the target of instruction
	Communicating Expectations	Establishing and communicating standards of performance for students
Appreciative of Students’ Life Experiences	Showing concern for students	Trying to understand students' interests / demonstrating your interest in students.
		Ex: ‘their extra-curricular activities, I go to football games, I go to sports activities … I am always there being visible’
	Examining students' home life	Obtaining knowledge of students' home life
		Ex: ‘Getting to know your students’; ‘determining what matters to them most’
	Getting to know your students	Attempting to understand your students’ backgrounds, interests, and home life
		Ex: ‘attempting to understand what aspects of their home life connects to physics.’
	Overtly drawing from my own experience	Using teachers’ experiences as a pedagogical reference to help students learn
Using Culture as a Pedagogical Reference	Planning around student culture first	Using students’ culture as a lesson planning tool as an initial reference
	Integrating science culture with the home culture	Merging students’ cultural backgrounds with the norms within science
	Representing in students’ language	Using students’ language as a pedagogical reference
		Ex: ‘Putting physics in students’ terms’
	Understanding ethnic patterns of behaviour	Understanding behaviour norms of students within ethnic/cultural groups within the classroom
	Use scientists as racial/ethnic role model	Connect other scientists who have similar cultural backgrounds as your students
		Ex: ‘I try to bring in other scientists.”
	Attempt to draw students into the culture of physics	Making moves intended to attract students into the physics culture
		Ex: ‘incorporating aspects of students’ culture into the curricula’
Recognition of Systemic Inequities	Lack of encouragement	Students not being given positive feedback
		Ex: ‘I think kids that aren't taught to embrace challenges or kids that don't see other people that look like them talking about physics or talking about when they learn physics.’
	lack of parent education	Parents not being high school or college-educated
		Ex: ‘maybe their parents did not go to college … you know, so they are like … I don't know what I am doing here, and I’m not going to college … I don't need this class.’
	Lack of role models	Students do not have role models to identify with
		Ex: understanding the lack of mentorship some students have
	Demographics of physics	The current racial/ethnic backgrounds in physics
	Students tracked out	Students are being filtered into nontraditional curricula tracks.
	Elitist attitude	Physics teachers have an attitude of superiority
		Ex: understanding how students may feel overwhelmed in physics courses
		Ex: ‘Yes, so there is a bit of an elitist attitude towards particular groups of students: like this kid shouldn't be in this class.’
	Perception of low performance	The stigma attached to the performance of students in physics
		Ex: ‘So, if you get a kid that's a low reader or low mathematics and they’re in your physics class, there is a lot of: this kid doesn't belong here … right … and you don't see that in other subject areas as much.’
	Affecting student participation	Factors that impact students’ participation in physics
		Ex: ‘ … I also think if you have kids that … because physics has a stigma … it's hard.’
	Make sure all students have the same opportunity	Giving students the same opportunities to have exposure to physics
		Ex: ‘and so I think that one of the things I try to focus on is trying just to make sure that the students who come from the area have access to it and kind of are plugged into the same opportunities’
Willingness to address socio-political concerns	Helping students understand challenges	Bringing awareness and aid to students towards external challenges they will encounter
		Ex: ‘Because part of our job is not just teaching the content but teaching them how to be successful and pursuing that content.’"
	Being aware of struggles	Knowing challenges students encounter
		Ex: ‘you got socioeconomic parameters which are huge influences on culture.’
	Embracing discussions on inequities	Welcoming open dialogue on controversial issues if inequities
		Ex: ‘if they bring it up, I will talk about how there are so many inequalities going on and some issues, and they have.’