Emergent themes and pragmatic research methods for meaningful cultural representation of Blacks in multimedia products for the science classroom

ABSTRACT

Going beyond ceremony to meaningfully integrate the lived experiences and narratives of Blacks particularly African Americans in the science curriculum, requires pragmatic research methodologies. K-12 science curriculum development neither considered the needs of African Americans nor were developed with Blacks in mind. Many questions arise related to what might be considered important for Blacks to know and moreover, who should make this determination, and from whose perspectives. This research used a multifaceted approach that was interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary in content and methodology. Considerations were given to social, cultural, historical, political, cognitive, and scientific lenses. This particular study explored considerations that led to the creation of two kinds of multimedia products – video clips and an animation. This research explores how the lived experiences and narratives of African American Gullah Geechee of the southern Coasts of the United States might be integrated into the science curriculum using video clips. This research also investigates the creation of a culturally representative animation to explicate considerations that were made when using the social, cultural, and historical underpinnings of Blacks in America. The research highlights the research methodologies and the meaning of representation, that have important implications for meaningful Black cultural representation in the science curriculum.

KEYWORDS:

• Culture
• representation
• Blacks
• African American
• Gullah Geechee
• science curriculum
• research methodology

The science curriculum and science content are representative of the narratives and lived experiences of White western culture and thus the science capital and contributions of Blacks in America are not included in the science content. Since African Americans have not been the sole authors of their experiences nor the main beneficiaries of the K-12 science curriculum, the science curriculum was not created with their narratives and lived experiences in mind. The research shows that not even science educators were able to articulate what cultural relevance would look like outside of a designated diversity course (Underwood & Mensah, 2018). Thus, this research sought to determine what meaningful integration and representation would look like. The assumptions and approaches of this study are that if the sole use of White narratives created a framework that lead to considerations of a science for all, what might a science curriculum that is both culturally representative of African Americans and beneficial to all look like? Central to the creation of cultural representation is consideration that over 80% of the K-12 teachers are White and only 7% are Black (NCES, 2019). This fact was considered important because White teachers are the gatekeepers and main implementers of the science curriculum that Black children receive. How can we create a science curriculum that even the majority White teachers consider important enough to implement without diminishing African American narratives?

This research uses an interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary approaches that consider the importance of the social, cultural, historical, political, and scientific implications and underpinnings for African Americans in America. Since there were no prior examples of meaningful integration of Blacks in the curriculum that both enhanced understandings of specific science concepts and at the same time help students understand Black heritage, this research highlights the process and products generated from this research. The goal of this research paper is to explicate the research methodologies that explain the nature of the pragmatic research methodologies used to create multimedia products, specifically an animation and video clips. The research questions that guide this study are: What themes related to science emerge in narratives of African American Gullah Geechee? What themes or ideas were salient during the creation of animation with Black representation? Since articulation of the methodological process was also emergent, the literature review focuses on the range of research methodologies that were considered. Since this research is also robust, the rationale for considerations of the various research methodologies is also addressed in the literature review. This is followed by more specific implementations in the methodology section. The researcher acknowledges that this might be unusual but invite you to recognise that this was done to generate unique understandings.

Literature review

This methodological literature review draws from the literature on research methodologies that were important to consider in this research. The methodological literature review therefore addresses the literature that supports the methods of data collection, analyses, and other considerations. Creswell (2007) describes various philosophical assumptions, paradigms, and research approaches that frame qualitative research implementations. The philosophical assumptions such as ontological, epistemological, axiological, rhetorical, and methodological assumptions – attend to the nature of reality, the role of the researcher, values, language, and process of the research and researcher (Creswell, 2007). The use of these philosophical assumptions, paradigms, and research approaches are described here.

Philosophical assumptions

Ontological

Ontologically, there are multiple realities, multiple lived experiences, and multiple voices and perspectives that represent African Americans and other Blacks in America. Thus, the lived experiences of the Gullah Geechee African Americans formed one small subset. However, this study assumed that their lived experiences and narratives would shed light on the plight of African Americans because they retained customs of their African heritage as Americans, and their culture is still in a constant state of flux. Furthermore, research shows that the experiences of Blacks in education have been different from those of Whites (Boykin & Noguera, 2011); Walls (2016) found they were unique enough to warrant separate study. Thus, the plight of the Gullah Geechee could provide insights into these unique experiences.

Epistemological

Epistemologically, the identity and role of the researcher as Black female has been pivotal to this research. As an Afro-Caribbean descendent the researcher like the Gullah Geechee African Americans retained some Black African heritage and practices. According to Banks one is an insider or outsider to a community depending on the extent to which one has embraced or assimilated into another culture (indigenous-outsider) or rejected parts of the values or beliefs of their culture (external-insider), such as Whites who reject the collective negative Western beliefs, behaviours, or perspectives about Blacks. An external outsider would be someone who has little understanding or appreciation for the community he or she studies (Banks, 1998). Banks continues to explain that researchers may navigate through various positions in their lifetime depending on the extent to which their own predispositions align with that of the community.

Axiological

Axiologically, the researcher continues to reject the negative narratives and psychological antecedents used to describe African Americans (Mutegi, 2013) and has made it her goal to highlight the psychological and educational assets of Black people in her research studies (Quinlan, 2019; 2020a; 2020b). The researcher comes to this study with an assumption that racial and cultural representation has an impact on modelling. Bandura (1997) notes that modelling, whether symbolic or social can impact on individuals’ self-efficacy. The research shows that even with high self-efficacy the impact on identity of STEM students is far-reaching, often leaving students to feel like outsiders to science (Robnett et al., 2015; Wong, 2015). Thus, the researcher seeks to situate the narratives of African Americans in the science curriculum, so that they can be reflected in studies that facilitate higher-order thinking. Walls (2016) found that nature of science research reflected the narratives of White Western culture and that few of the studies represented Blacks. It is important to consider the collective impact of absence on the importance of Blacks in Western spaces. The opposition and challenges that Blacks in science fields and institutions face (Brown et al., 2016; Carlone & Johnson, 2007) have implications for diminishing any symbolic and social representation or modelling of Blacks, as seen in the recent emergence of Black ‘hidden figures’ behind science.

Paradigms

Post-positivism

Post-positivism was important because cultural representation was being created for the science classroom. This would mean that cultural representation would need to align with various state and national science standards, such as the three dimensions of STEM in the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), the Disciplinary Core Ideas, Scientific and Engineering Practices, and Crosscutting Concepts (NGSS Lead States, 2013), and the National Science Education Standards (NSES) to name a few. These were used as the constraints to cultural representation.

When the narratives of African Americans are juxtaposed against the science content, science can be likened to positivism because of the appearance of strict objectivity which defines science. Positivism holds that ‘subjective understandings may be of very great importance in our lives but they constitute an essentially different kind of knowledge from scientifically established facts’ (Crotty, 1998, p. 27). The question then becomes how is this nature of reality constructed that takes knowledge out of the subjective lived experiences of the scientists and then reduces it to facts? Considerations need to be made to determine if the inclusion of the narratives of people often looked down on, could come to hold some value so that it is not relegated as inferior learning, while still allowing students to equally gain understandings needed for science learning. The assumption in this study is that if the culturally representative curriculum is not considered valuable to the classroom teacher, then it will not be used. Alternatively, if the teacher is an external outsider he or she may reject the lived experiences and narratives of his or her students, or reject the need to understand or include it, even if he or she considers it valuable.

Social constructivism

Social constructivism in this research considers that the nature of the narratives and lived experiences of African Americans is complex and socially constructed. Enciso and Ryan (2011) draw from Vygotsky in noting that ‘(a) thought is mediated by social, cultural, historical relations and activity, (b) the potential to learn is optimal within situations where a problem makes use of and extends the language, knowledge, motivation and relationships already available to learners’ (Enciso & Ryan, 2011, p. 133). Thus, the narratives conveyed would depend not only on the pre-existing schemes of the individuals but on their motives and what they consider important to convey.

Pragmatism

More importantly, because the overall experiences of Blacks in education have been negative, considerations must be given to determine what aspects of the experience could be used to promote positive identity formation alongside the learning of science. Gee (2000-2001) describes four powers along with their sources that can influence our identity. These include 1. ‘forces’ ‘in nature,’ such as genes; 2. ‘authorities’ ‘within institutions,’; 3. ‘the discourse/dialogue’ ‘of/with ‘rational’ individuals,’; and 4. ‘the practice,’ ‘of ‘affinity groups’ (p. 100). Considerations were given to determine the extent to which these narratives could improve or dimmish self-concept, self-esteem, or self-efficacy, and as to whether knowing explicitly might be as helpful as knowing implicitly, especially when considering cultural representation and the impacts on one’s self-concept.

Research approaches

Narrative research

Creswell (2007) explains that narratives could be ‘both a method and the phenomenon’ (p. 54) and that there are different types of narrative studies that can take on different forms. Stories could contain one or more individuals or could be chronological or thematic. Narratives could be told from a variety of perspectives and the researcher could draw from the stories and even ‘restory’ or retell. Narratives can be biographical in nature or consist of oral histories (Creswell, 2007).

As a phenomenon, narratives as convincing stories are used throughout science. Scientists consider the narratives and tell stories when presenting their own arguments or paradigms before other scientists (Kuhn, 1996). A great deal of narratives exists in science textbooks that are biographical, historical, or thematic in nature (Quinlan, 2020b). Individually or collectively research tells narratives and can paint a positive or negative picture of individuals or cultures, even as some might help solve problems. Narratives have been used to tell stories about past cultures using various kinds of data collected for science education. For example Moore (2008) use narratives to describe the positional identities of Black science teachers and Brown et al. (2016) look at the alignment of African American scientists and STEM majors with their environments.

Phenomenology

Phenomenology is the science of phenomena. A phenomenon could be a thing, person, or event that is considered extraordinary and can lead us to ask questions or require explanations. In describing phenomenology as a methodology, Merriam (1998) notes: “According to Patton (1990), this type of research is based on ‘the assumption that there is an essence or essences to shared experience. These essences are the core meanings mutually understood through a phenomenon commonly experienced  …  or the essence of being a participant in a particular program’”(Merriam, 1998, p. 15). This research sought to capture the essence of the Blacks in America and particularly the African American experience, with the understanding that there are many different individuals and collective experiences for Blacks. This study sought to both capture the essence of the African American experience and to situate them in the K-12 STEM content.

Creswell (2007) points to “hermeneutic phenomenology (van Manen, 1990)  …  in which he describes research as oriented toward lived experience” (Creswell, 2007, p. 59); Creswell (2007) also points out that “Moustakas’s (1994) transcendental or psychological phenomenology is focused less on the interpretations of the researcher and more on a description of the experiences of participants” (Creswell, 2007, p. 59). Moustakas (2011) notes that

transcendental science emerged out of a growing discontent with a philosophy of science based exclusively on studies of material things, a science that failed to take into account the experiencing person and the connections between human consciousness and the objects that exist in the material world (p. 2)

Thus, the goal of this research was to connect the science to the human experience, in this case to the experiences of Blacks in America, notably African Americans.

Methodology

A pragmatic research methodology was used in this study. Different methods were required for different explorations. Therefore the methodology is divided into two sections, the data collection and analysis used to explore the narratives of African American Gullah Geechee in video clips and the methods used to create an animation on sugar and diabetes.

Gullah Geechee narratives

Participants and setting

Participants were four Gullah Geechee African Americans with different roles that were essential in bringing the narratives of the Gullah Geechee people to life. They grew up in the Gullah Geechee regions with customs that they work to keep alive. One participant was a Gullah Geechee historian and curator who kept both the narratives and customs of the Gullah Geechee alive through his work. Two were artists. One of the artists used art to express her own lived experiences as a Gullah Geechee native. The other artist used Gullah Geechee art as a process of self-discovery to highlight the narratives of her ancestors. The fourth Gullah Geechee native was active in providing tours to places that narrated the Gullah Geechee life. She was essential in connecting the researcher with other Gullah Geechee natives and provided personal tours to meet with the Gullah Geechee natives. The data from her private tour is excluded from this analysis because they were not central to generating science video clips for the classroom. However she is mentioned because she was important in connecting the researcher with other participants. She voluntarily and freely gave of her time because of her personal desire to support the work that highlights and preserves her Gullah Geechee heritage. Furthermore, our conversations have helped to shape the interview questions. The study took place in the places of work of each of the participants, in the art studios of the artists, the heritage museum of the historian, and driving on the road to different destinations during the private Gullah Geechee tours.

Data collection

Preparation for the visit to the Gullah Geechee regions included brief conversations with each of the participants prior to meeting with them. Memos and notes were used to generate semi-structured questions. However, most of the interviews were unstructured. The researcher wanted to make sure that the interview attended to what participants thought was important to focus on while determining which parts of the narratives would connect with science. As a theme emerged with each participant, more structured questions were included for further clarification. Probing questions were used when similarity in topics emerged. The videos were recorded over the duration of two full days by a Black male videographer who recorded the interviews and took pictures. The data consisted of the video recordings, transcripts, and notes from the video recordings. Memos, notes, and reflections were also taken.

Data analysis

The video clips were analysed for overlapping themes that connected with each other and to science. Analysis sought direct connections with science concepts as well as themes and ideas that related to or could be used to connect with concepts in science. Themes and narratives that could stimulate discussions about science were also considered. Themes and discussions with participants were triangulated with each other to focus on ideas that were supported by two or all participants. Considerations were also given to themes that triangulated with science topics as well as with various research literature.

Animation on sugar and diabetes

Overview and motivation

Meetings and conversations with various administrators and teachers were done to better understand the needs of their curriculum. One principal indicated that many students from her predominantly African American and Latinx population chose diabetes or hypertension/high blood pressure as a topic of interest for their science fair project. This led me to begin to explore what information was available and accessible to students on diabetes. The lack of representation and narratives that reflected the needs of the Black and Latinx population was evident. Preliminary findings showed that even in video clips a Black person might be included but merely in passing. Many of the videos found were advertisements of diabetes medications.

Preparation and data collection procedures

Various procedures were used to determine what might be important to focus on. Three health care professionals of Afro-Caribbean descent (2 Black nurses and 1 nurse’s aide) that work with predominantly Afro-Caribbean and African American populations along with one retired Afro-Caribbean nutrition teacher provided some insights into the plight of diabetes. The participants were all chosen because of the convenience and proximity to the researcher. They were diabetic and knew others with diabetes, so their insights were both personal and professional.

Data and information on diabetes were reviewed and collected from various national and government websites such as the US Department of Health and Human Services – Center for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics, and National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases and others. Cultural and social connections to diabetes were made by looking at historical literature and documents related to sugar. This information was used to provide the information required by the animation company. The information provided included a summary or focus of the animation, key points to highlight, along with links that resemble animations or images or paper to provide background information. After the initial script was created, there were a total of 6 script drafts before the 7th final script. This was followed by the voiceover which included considerations for an African American voice, then re-selection and confirmation of the accompanying music to set the mood for the animation before the first animation draft. A White female botanist provided feedback on the script drafts.

Feedback participants. After the first animation draft was created, participants from prior webinars given by the researcher on cultural presentation provided feedback. Each of 14 participants met in one of four focus groups of varying sizes –with 5, 4, 3, 2 in each group, respectively. Demographically there were 5 elementary and 3 high school teachers, 1 preservice or inservice science educator, and 5 were in other university faculty or administrator roles. Seven (7) identified as White, 4 as Black of African American, 2 as American Indian or Alaska Native, and 1 as mixed. Participants did not know the topic of the animation prior to meeting. Participants first viewed the entire animation three times and answered structured questions, each time adding to their responses as necessary. The focus group was used for some discussion and mainly clarification after the participants and responded to an online feedback questionnaire.

Data collection and data analysis

The main data for this study included the various information capture forms, 6 script drafts, 1 final draft that all include the images, the final animation and the transcripts generated from the feedback on the first animation draft. The interview transcripts generated by Zoom software during the focus group were analysed for patterns and the data generated was used to triangulate and support the results from the analysis of the scripts. Data analysis was guided by the questions asked as well as by the goal of the animation. The data from various sources were triangulated for patterns and for reporting of the findings. Comparisons were done to extract and highlight salient qualities and to explore alternative explanations or hypotheses.

Findings

Emergent themes from Gullah Geechee narratives

Explicit connections to science

The chemistry and extraction of sugarcane juice from sugarcane was the most explicit example related to the processes in science. The historian talked about the process by pointing to the old sugar cane mill that is on the museum grounds and the large concrete structure used to boil extracted sugarcane juice:

There are three wheels on the inside that will crush the sugar cane. The opening right here in the front is where the syrup or the juice would come out, and with that you would collect it  …  The whole cooking process, and it’s almost like a metamorphosis, where you go from fifty gallons of cane juice. How much syrup do you think you get out of fifty gallons?  …  It’s about ten percent, you’ll get about five gallons  …  It is a, you’re reducing the amount of water that’s in here that’s the whole concept of boiling. There are two concepts. You’re boiling it to deduct the water and you’re boiling it to also clean it  …  And we would sprinkle the baking soda in there and it will react, and it will come up and boil over and collect into our filter.

The processing of the sugar cane involved various chemical processes and direct connections to science. This narrative also reflected scientific research literature that supports the development of efficient sugar crystal extraction methods.

Native practices

All participants talked about oysters, the shortage of oyster shells, and the products created from them. The historian noted that the Gullah Geechee African Americans lived in close association with Native Americans and adopted some of their customs and vice versa because the Native Americans and African Americans realised that they were both tribal. He also noted that the Gullah Geechee was ridiculed by the people in the area for collecting and ‘planting’ oyster shells, which he noted is now widely practiced at the boat docks. One artist discussed the importance of the oyster shells, which she uses in her artwork and creations:

like this right here which is harvesting oysters or I call it ‘still climbing’ actually  …  when I created this I literally thought they were harvesting oysters, but what they’re doing is actually replenishing the beds. When in this area, of course we live off the land, okay. Not only during growing our crops but fishing and oystering, shrimping. And so what they do once they are finished with the old oyster shell, what they have to do is take them back out into the marsh and replenish the beds. Because the next seedling of oysters they have to have something sturdy and strong to hold on to in order for them to grow. So they try to keep that natural balance and reseeding the marshes.

They all talked about the shortage of oyster shells. The historian and this artist also talked about the use of oyster shells to make the concrete structure called ‘tabby.’ The historian noted that tabby was ‘oyster shells, lime, burnt oyster shells. It is made into a paste then made into a concrete.’ The artist noted that:

So they used tabby. And it’s like a mixture of lime, sand, you know they cooked the Oyster shells and create this kind of sludge kind of. And so you’ll see a lot of tabby ruins, like the old enslaved quarters, or houses and churches that were built with that structure. Now, you know they’re having a shortage of Oyster shells to go back and recede those beds.

Another practice included the creation of the African coil basket:

No matter what, whether or not it’s being made in South Carolina, whether or not it’s being made in Georgia, whether or not it’s being made in Africa it is still an African coil basket. What is the difference? Selection of materials. We came here. We didn’t have the same grasses we had in Africa but we still wanted to make baskets so we found something that would substitute.

Africans and early African Americans did not have access to the same materials but still wanted to carry out their practices, just like other immigrant groups who migrated to the United States.

Plants that heal

All participants talked about the different plants they used for healing. The historian noted that:

We as a people, when we came here we did not have doctors that we went to. So we had people who were in our communities who had the knowledge, the knowledge of medicine fate, the herbal knowledge who would go and get the herbs and roots and stuff and make into a medicine.

When probed he noted that he gained the knowledge from his mother. He also discussed the role of other plants such as the rabbit tobacco, Spanish moss, canna lily, weeping willow, wax myrtle, and sweet gum. For example, the historian noted that ‘you can take the leaves and crush them up and crush them up real good, you take those leaves, rub on you and its insect repellent.’ One artist talked about the plants that came from Africa and illustrated plants such as the watermelon in her paintings. She also talked about the Spanish moss, cotton, and cotton seed oil:

The thing about cotton is that it carries all kinds of medicinal purposes, and one of the medicinal purposes of the cotton - if you were to take the seed out, and rinse it out thoroughly, the seeds could be used as a tea. Now the tea is good for upper respiratory problems like a cough, or a cold, or a flu. And then, you have heard of cottonseed oil. Now the cottonseed oil is good for blemishes as well so as wrinkles. Now cotton tea can also soothe an aching stomach, and it can also increase the breast milk for a nursing mom. And you can also get honey from cotton, because cotton is a flower. Let me show you, that’s the best way to do it.

The significance of these plants is found in the current use in modern medicine. For example, the active ingredient in aspirin is derived from the weeping willow. The historian noted that after the doctors saw that African Americans were not going to them for help they followed them into the forest to see what plants they were picking and then ‘politely’ took them. He noted that these medicines are found in the New England Journal of Medicine and that people don’t realise their origins.

Identity of our ancestors as agricultural engineers

The Gullah Geechee artists used art to connect with and retell the stories of their ancestors. In so doing they re-envisioned, re-imagined, and re-told stories that described the predispositions of their ancestors. One artist noted:

The way that I create pieces or tell the story, the clothings, and the color is to understand number one that our ancestors were not slaves. They were agricultural engineers and master craftsman and more who were enslaved because of their intelligence.

She used all her colours and imagery to tell who they were based on what they did, and not based on how they were defined by others. She created an identity for them that highlights their contributions in America. She connected the African with the American in defining what it meant to be Gullah Geechee. One of the recurring themes among both artists was the absence of the eyes. The Gullah Geechee artists believe that the eyes are the window to the soul and that the eyes give expression to what’s inside the individual. The agricultural engineering also came up in discussions about the methods of farming that they noted were modelled in the United States. One artist indicated that one government organisation was now studying the rice irrigation systems to understand it because of the increase in flooding. In a follow-up conversation, the historian noted that he was also invited to give insights into the engineering systems developed by early African Americans that were central to the sustenance and agricultural practices developed in the Gullah Geechee regions. These agricultural systems are now being given attention in various research that are being done by scientists and other organisations. This perspective is supported by researchers such as Judith Carney who has extensively showed the parallels between West Africa and the Gullah Geechee coastal regions of Southern United States (Carney, 2001, p. 1996; Carney & Rosomoff, 2009).

Themes and progressions in creation of animation

Rationale for choice in topic

The goal of the science animation was to bring to the attention of people of colour particularly blacks, the silent effects of continuing to eat sugar when you’re diabetic. The nurses and nurse’s aide interviewed found that it was difficult to help their patients to modify their diet. They noted several factors at play including the importance of getting the entire family on board to help the diabetic patient. The goals were articulated as follows: 1. Very brief overview of types of available sugar over 400 years ago; 2. Diabetes is a silent killer of Blacks and people of colour (statistics); 3. The impact of diabetes on other parts of the body that manifest itself in other issues. The biology of this impact. Most of the animation was about the additional biological impacts of diabetes on the rest of the body ex. Picturing wet/caked sugar in the blood and where it goes; 4. What nurses I interviewed have observed as challenges among Blacks and Latinos they encountered; 5. Understandings and daily changes that can help Blacks adapt on a daily basis given their disadvantaged situations, to help ameliorate the impact of diabetes. Addressing misunderstandings. The company created script using the initial information sought along with research literature and documents provided by the researcher.

Representations to highlight cultural resources

The creation of the script with the placeholder images provided by the company was presented and went through seven revisions. One salient characteristic of the script (i.e. salient to the researcher), was the excessive presence of White European characters when the goal of the research was to highlight the cultural resources of Blacks as well as create Black representations in science. Another salient feature was the extent of negative representation of Blacks especially in the role as slaves. Therefore the narratives were reworked and care taken to ensure that details were derived from a specific historical source provided by the researcher. Subsequent revisions emphasised Black communities and the cultural resources of other people of colour who were overlooked in this journey.

Important changes made

Highlighting assets and diminishing stereotypes. There were many words, themes, and ideas that were salient in this initial script. First I was struck by the emphasis on the heroism of White culture, who played very active roles. Both the images and the narration were active: ‘300BC – Alexander the Great’s troops bring sugar to Europe from India.’ There was a great positive emphasis in this history. However, this contrasted sharply with the passive descriptions and passive roles that indigenous people played as well as the passive language or seemingly incidental history – as if things happened to other people such as, ‘Around the same time, Native Americans were observed extracting sugar cane from vegetables including corn’ and ‘Slave trade reaches its peak, in part due to huge demand for sugar.’ In this latter sentence the key players were removed and what was left seemed to indicate and personify ideas such as ‘slave trade’ and the ‘demand for sugar,’ which seemed to have no key players. This is seen similarly in the narrative: ‘In African and Caribbean communities in particular, refined sugar has replaced foods such as honey and fruits in the diet.’ The presence of passive roles and language was recognised by the advisor. The issue became how do I emphasise what is happening in the community without making it seem that it is the fault of Blacks that ‘refined sugar has replaced foods such as honey and fruits in the diet.’ Most of all how do I make sure that positive images and not negative images are painted of African Americans. This was highlighted by one Latina peer who had listened to the narrator, prior to the first animation draft and cautioned against sounding like it was ‘blaming the victim.’ The scene described stated that:

Scene opens showing the family of 5 African American characters, all relatively large/with an obese father character, sitting around a table, eating dinner. Then later it indicates ‘Zoom towards the obese father, who stands up and the rest of the family disappears around him.’ My feedback emphasized the need for a more Afrocentric versus Eurocentric perspectives.

Active versus passive roles. While several changes were made to the script, the final script emphasise the role of Native Americans and other indigenous peoples to emphasise their past cultural resources. More importantly, a deep dive in the history resources showed that distinction was made between indigenous peoples that were located in Central America and North America as noted in the script: ‘When early Spanish settlers arrived, they found that Mexican Indians extracted a sweet substance from corn stalk and California Native Americans made molasses and other sweet products, possibly from the abundance of wild beets that grew in California.’ However, it was difficult to get rid of the image of Christopher Columbus and I agreed to let it remain even though I had difficulty justifying or rather internally accepting that the image of Christopher Columbus deserved a mainstay. The question became what do we replace that image with when this was a reality embedded in history? Meanwhile, it became important to de-emphasise ideas that blamed Blacks for the limited access they had within their communities through narratives such as ‘In Black communities in particular, whole foods, such as honey and fruits, have been replaced by more processed foods containing refined sugar, in the diet.’ How do you emphasise the positive in the community by de-emphasising the underlying tone in that statement? New images were used to highlight the role of food deserts. The final animation contained a more explicit definition of what a food desert was in case the image did not completely tell the story. Other directives were noted on the script such as: Please don’t give the characters straight hair  …  However, characters should vary in hair style, body weight, age, gender and skin tone. See these reference images provided by client.

Feedback from animation reviewers

Overall the transcripts from the focus group confirmed the observations of the researcher. Additional probing was done to determine if any negative stereotypes could be interpreted. One White participant noted: ‘But I did say in my mind, you are targeting. You’re not targeting me you’re not you’re not asking me to make food changes because of the color of my skin. I’m not in that group.’ Another Black participant indicated that her elementary students might think that

kids think oh, you’re skinny, so you’re healthy and that’s not true. But that’s what in their minds. If you’re not fat, then you’re good, and some of the children who are the smallest are probably eating the worst diet. I’ve ever seen.

Therefore in response the researcher made sure that the diabetic male was not also obese. This White participant also highlighted the political implications because the experience of a food desert resonated with her:

I mean, there’s some political things there too like a food desert is literally political. We have a food desert in our city that I’m right next door to. We can’t get a grocery store and we have a Stop and Shop and a Big Y and the Big Y is making money hand over fist over this Covid pandemic and in my mind, I’m saying, Why can’t they put a grocery store in a section of our city that is food deprived. But they can’t make any money there. And that’s and that’s I get upset about that. Every day I drive by that section drive by that street where I know a grocery store could go and wish that I could have enough money to open one and just say, here it is. Here’s your fresh veggies. Here’s your, you know, people don’t have access to it. And that’s. That to me would be great for high school but little kids wouldn’t understand food desert  …  They’re gonna think hot, dry cactus.

Participants were also interested in who I was targeting and after probing to determine what might be possible reactions if other students particularly White students, viewed this, the discussion segued into including other people to be represented. Therefore in response I eliminated some areas which merely mentioned specific groups without additional details. Another consideration was that by looking at the statistics we see that diabetes is an American problem and not just a Black problem.

Discussion and implications

Connecting with culture and prior knowledge

The emergent themes have implications for connecting students with Black culture and the culture of other people of colour. Bricker et al.’s (2014) makes a case for connecting the science content of schools with students’ prior knowledge by considering practices related to their homes. They found that for all 13 students ‘the young people had prior knowledge about health that was multidimensional and situated in personal, academic, and cultural contexts – such as a family member’s advice, cultural and media messages about weight loss, or personal experiences of health and illness’ (Bricker et al., 2014, p. 1460). Bricker et al. (2014) note that the connection between science and health can create a common ground because decisions made about health often take place in the home and community environments and capitalise on the cultural resources of students.

Universality of representation

The importance of representation of Blacks must be underscored. First, the lack of meaningful and integrated representation of Blacks was both the driver and the framework for this research. Central to representation was considerations of whose perspectives would influence this representation. This was important in determining the nature of methodology used for data collection with the understanding that Blacks from different parts of the African Diaspora hold different perspectives. Thus, the Gullah Geechee African Americans were important in bringing out the historical, cultural, social, and political underpinnings of Blacks in America. They also have a shared experience with both African Americans and other Blacks of the African Diaspora that had the opportunity to continue in some of the practices of their African heritage. To ensure the perspectives were adequately represented video clips were created using the voices and narratives of the Gullah Geechee African Americans.

Representation was the most important theme emerging from both the video interviews and the animation. This was explicit in even a comment made by one of the interviewees that placed emphasis on other meanings derived from the word ‘history,’ namely ‘his story,’ the idea that even the narratives told about Blacks have not been told by Blacks. Hence the goal was to highlight the cultural resources of Blacks, while meeting the science educational goals. Questions emerged such as who the products are targeting which begs the questions about when ideas or feelings about representation emerge and by whom – a question for future study. Future studies should explore the existence and nature of implicit and explicit assumptions that White representations provide universality and is perceived as the norm that benefits all and goes unnoticed. Namely, do questions about universality arise when Whites are fully represented or just when Blacks or other people of colour are fully represented in science?

The importance of representation is supported by research on the choices students make based on what they feel represents them. Taconis and Kessels (2009) found that for 54, 9th-grade Dutch students, their choice of science or humanities was best explained by what they felt were most congruent with them or most represented them or were ‘most similar to.’ Thus, the inclusion of the narratives and lived experiences of Blacks in America is a source of science capital:

We see science capital as: ‘  …  a conceptual device for collating various types of economic, social and cultural capital that specifically relate to science-notably those which have the potential to generate use or exchange value for individuals or groups to support and enhance their attainment, engagement and/or participation in science (Archer, DeWittt, & Willis, 2014, p. 5).’ (cited in DeWitt & Archer, 2015, p. 2173)

Science capital could consider that the resources necessary to direct attainment is also the same as the economic, social, and cultural capital that drives the inclusion of cultural representation of African Americans in the science curriculum. Quinlan (2020b) notes that science capital could come from the very interests and narratives that define what a Black scientist might find important enough to research, but that often does not make it into the K-12 science curriculum as one of the important topics of study.

Implications for the economic pipeline

This study has important implications for the economic pipeline. Based on the various findings and for purposes of this study the economic pipeline is defined as a system or network for the production and distribution of goods, wealth, and services. It is a bypass or network that results in the careful management of, production, and distribution of goods, wealth, and services. The artists and historians all discussed major aspects of the economic pipeline as it influenced them. For example, the practice of going to the grannies rather than doctors meant that the economic pipeline would be shifted away from the White doctors. The presence of food deserts represented a shift away from resources in Black communities because they might generate less profits. The onset of the cheap availability of sugar, sugar processing, and goods created using refined sugar, all have implications for the economic pipeline. Though it is important to acknowledge that the impact of diabetes does affect all cultures and not only Blacks.

Furthermore, finding an animation company that could create a culturally representative animation and at the same time educate about the process brought attention to the importance of the economic pipeline in curriculum development. Marshall (2020) notes that an individual may have identification and elaboration knowledge but still have no planning knowledge or pre-existing schemes for a particular execution. Thus, this was an important part of the process in helping the researcher to develop a schema for creating an animation so that in the future her own pre-disposition rather than the expertise required could be more influential to the process. For example, she identified various tasks and planning knowledge that she would now go about differently. The economic implications is an important driver for curriculum representations. Curriculum developers for whom the Western economic pipeline favours would consider representations, whether implicitly or explicitly, or both. Considerations of an economic disadvantage to pursuing Black cultural representation in science leads to a ‘curriculum desert’ for Black stakeholders.

Further studies using other frameworks

Family resemblance approach (FRA). This study has implications for the sociocultural nature of science. Researchers such as Erduran et al. (2019), Dagher and Erduran (2017) describe the advantages of using the FRA to inform curriculum development especially as it relates to the nature of science (NOS). The FRA, which was developed by Irzik and Nola (cited in Dagher & Erduran, 2016) adds three dimensions to the nature of science – ‘social organisations and interactions,’ ‘political power structures,’ and ‘financial systems’ (Erduran et al., 2019, p. 316). According to Erduran et al. (2019), researchers have used the FRA to analyse NOS in the ‘Irish draft science curriculum,’ ‘Turkish science curriculum documents,’ ‘Taiwanese curriculum guidelines’ (p. 320), ‘science textbooks in Lebanon,’ and the ‘Australian junior secondary textbooks,’ (p. 321). The researchers found that the FRA provided a holistic approach to looking at NOS dimensions not addressed in other standards and for suggesting changes in the curriculum (cited in Erduran et al., 2019).

Indigenous knowledge research. While African Americans are not native to America they brought with them indigenous knowledge from African tribes and gained indigenous knowledge from Native American tribes, who were their allies. However, African Americans have never been shown the same considerations that relate to their native narratives and languages, as is seen in indigenous studies done around the world. Lee et al.’s (2012) looked at the combined effect of indigenous knowledge with western knowledge in a study with students with ancestry from the Amis indigenous tribe of Taiwan. A comparison between the lived experiences and narratives of African Americans and those of other indigenous groups around the world could provide additional guidance on creating cultural representation for Blacks in America.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by National Science Foundation [grant number 1928832].