An Exploration of the Role of Critical Consciousness in Pre-College Engineering Education (Other)

James Holly, Jr.; Madison Buford

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Conference: 2022 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: Minneapolis, MN
Publication Date: August 23, 2022
Start Date: June 26, 2022
End Date: June 29, 2022
Conference Session: PCEE Session 13: Equity in P-12 Engineering Education
Page Count: 13
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--41739
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/41739
Download Count: 782

Paper Authors

biography

James Holly, Jr. University of Michigan

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Dr. James Holly, Jr. is an Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering and core faculty member within the Engineering Education Research program at the University of Michigan. He earned a bachelor’s degree from Tuskegee University and a master’s degree from Michigan State University, both in Mechanical Engineering. He earned his doctorate in Engineering Education from Purdue University. His research paradigm is shaped by his experiences growing up in a Black church within a Black city and later studying engineering at Tuskegee University, a Black institution, three spaces where Blackness is both normal and esteemed. As such, he sees his teaching, research, and service as promoting pro-Blackness—affirming the humanity and epistemic authority of Black people—in engineering education. His scholarship focuses on the ways disciplinary knowledge (i.e., mechanical engineering) reinforces racialized power, the role of culture and cognition in teaching and learning, and preparing pre-college engineering educators to identify and counteract racial inequity. He helped create the Equity, Culture, and Social Justice in Education Division within the American Society of Engineering Education, and serves on the Editorial Board for both the Journal of Engineering Education and the Journal of Pre-College Engineering Education Research.

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Madison Buford

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Abstract

As the body of scholarship on pre-college engineering education research continues to grow, there remains a significant dearth of consideration of the influence sociopolitical context has on engineering teaching and learning in pre-college environments. Though some scholars have engaged with the influences of identity and culturally affirming teaching practices, the broader ecological circumstances experienced by a pre-college student may arguably be the most influential determinants on their preparation for post-secondary engineering education. Scholars in education have longed correlated factors of racial identity and socioeconomic status with chances for academic success, but little is known about how these factors influence pre-college engineering education, specifically. Furthermore, many pre-college engineering educators have not been trained on how to counteract the consequences of inequitable education systems in their pedagogy. In this paper, we will present the concept of critical consciousness as a construct that can enrich pre-college engineering education. Critical consciousness can help educators disavow perceptions, attitudes, behaviors, and beliefs that justify and reinforce inequities prominent in how pre-college students are educated about engineering. Additionally, critical consciousness can assist educators in broadening their conception of engineering knowledge and its role in society. These are important avenues for making engineering education more equitable for all students, particularly for those who have been excluded due to unjust social norms and deficit-oriented instructional practices. We present review of scholarship on the concept of critical consciousness, including literature on it being applied in pre-college Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics education, and then we make an argument for this concept to be explored further in pre-college engineering education. Critical consciousness motivates individuals to identify unjust aspects of society and work against them, without such direct-action pre-college engineering education will embrace many of the same inequities prominent in pre-college education more broadly.

Citation
Format

Holly, Jr., J., & Buford, M. (2022, August), An Exploration of the Role of Critical Consciousness in Pre-College Engineering Education (Other) Paper presented at 2022 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Minneapolis, MN. 10.18260/1-2--41739

TY  - CPAPER
AB  - 	As the body of scholarship on pre-college engineering education research continues to grow, there remains a significant dearth of consideration of the influence sociopolitical context has on engineering teaching and learning in pre-college environments. Though some scholars have engaged with the influences of identity and culturally affirming teaching practices, the broader ecological circumstances experienced by a pre-college student may arguably be the most influential determinants on their preparation for post-secondary engineering education. Scholars in education have longed correlated factors of racial identity and socioeconomic status with chances for academic success, but little is known about how these factors influence pre-college engineering education, specifically. Furthermore, many pre-college engineering educators have not been trained on how to counteract the consequences of inequitable education systems in their pedagogy. In this paper, we will present the concept of critical consciousness as a construct that can enrich pre-college engineering education. Critical consciousness can help educators disavow perceptions, attitudes, behaviors, and beliefs that justify and reinforce inequities prominent in how pre-college students are educated about engineering. Additionally, critical consciousness can assist educators in broadening their conception of engineering knowledge and its role in society. These are important avenues for making engineering education more equitable for all students, particularly for those who have been excluded due to unjust social norms and deficit-oriented instructional practices. We present review of scholarship on the concept of critical consciousness, including literature on it being applied in pre-college Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics education, and then we make an argument for this concept to be explored further in pre-college engineering education. Critical consciousness motivates individuals to identify unjust aspects of society and work against them, without such direct-action pre-college engineering education will embrace many of the same inequities prominent in pre-college education more broadly.
AU  - James Holly, Jr.
AU  - Madison Buford
CY  - Minneapolis, MN
DA  - 2022/08/23
PB  - ASEE Conferences
TI  - An Exploration of the Role of Critical Consciousness in Pre-College Engineering Education (Other)
UR  - https://peer.asee.org/41739
DO  - 10.18260/1-2--41739
ER  -