Social justice ed and diversity and equity in science education

I recently ran across a very useful volume in the Multicultural Education Series (Teachers College Press) - "Is everyone really equal?: An introduction to key concepts in social justice education", Sensoy, Ozlem and Robin DiAngelo, 2012.

The appendix alone is worth the price of the volume.  The appendix is entitled "How to Engage Constructively in Courses that Take a Critical Social Justice Approach" and it stresses the importance of developing a perspective informed by the research (and not just personal opinions, personal experience, and anectdote).  This is a lesson it behooves all of us to remember as we progress in our teaching careers; we really need to consult and use and incorporate the research on learning and teaching science - and not just rely on summaries of that research as found in introductory textbooks.

There is a telling vignette that uses the example of Pluto being reclassified down from its former planetary status - a vignette that will resonate with science teachers, and may be useful for consideration by those of us who may teach Biology and someday have to deal with such issues as teaching evolution, or those of us who teach Earth Science and have to deal with related issues (age of Earth, evolution of life through time as evidenced by the fossil record, etc.).

Another volume in that series (which I have not obtained, but can be accessed in part by "Look Inside" on Amazon)) is "Diversity and equity in science education: Research, Policy and Practice by Lee, Okhee and Cory A. Buxton (2010).