Organizing for material possibility in a community-led science program

ABSTRACT

This case study examined how Mexican-American community educators developed material repertoires of practice to support a just and environmentally conscious afterschool program. Based on historical, environmental, economic, and sociopolitical circumstances, educators designed imaginative learning opportunities for predominantly working-class youth through the thoughtful cultivation of discarded, donated, and natural materials. Through these designs, educators offered young people new pathways for learning in their community. The author traced the constitutive relationships between the afterschool program, young people, educators, community, and the material environment to understand how these practices supported justice-oriented STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, Math) education. The community educators created new “material possibilities” through practices of repurposing and developing material-rich projects to support youth. Simultaneously, they critiqued material consumption with youth in order to push back on an extractive economy that did not support a thriving community and environment. This work builds on the notion of material possibility in order to extend our pedagogical imaginations.

Acknowledgments

I would like to thank the educators, young people, and families at HSS for their trust in me as we conducted a community-partnered research project. I would like to especially thank “Eduardo” and “Eva” for your years of trust and eventual friendship. I am a better thinker, educator, and person because of you. Thanks also to Susan Jurow, Siamak Vossoughi, Maggie Beneke, Emily Machado, and Shaneé Washington for reading portions of the manuscript and providing feedback. Finally, I am grateful for the critiques from reviewers as they have helped strengthen all aspects of the manuscript. This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No.: 1238253 and 1722504.

Disclosure statement

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

Notes

1. All names of places and people are pseudonyms.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the NSF [1238253,1722504].