Fred Freking from USC Rossier School and Education and Lara Smetana from Loyola University in Chicago led a team under the umbrella of 100Kin10’s catalyst focus on equity in high school STEM to explore the challenge of how to design teacher preparation programs that guide their high school science candidates to incorporate culturally responsive pedagogy into their online instruction. Together, team members read “Science in the City,” by Bryan A. Brown. This book explored the importance of STEM educators incorporating a multicultural approach to urban science education so students can make meaningful connections between science and their culture.

The team found the book to be valuable in sparking fruitful conversations about race, classroom linguistic practices, cultures, and science education. They wanted to provide others with the same experience to try out a variety of strategies for implementing a book study with other groups, including pre-service teachers and educational professionals. Their Discussion Guide includes probing questions that encourage participants to Engage, Explore, Explain, Elaborate, and Evaluate. The members of this team are currently implementing the discussion guide in their contexts.