Supporting inclusive practices within STEM education through an arts and theater-based methodology

The challenge

Researchers have identified a persistent underrepresentation of students by race and gender in STEM fields. One way to address this issue is by offering professional development that integrates culturally relevant pedagogy, which can provide educators with increased content knowledge, confidence and awareness of learning styles. However, most professional development programs focused on STEM domains are more focused on knowledge acumen, rather than treating underlying issues such as racism, sexism, classism and ableism. These shortsighted approaches hinder equity in STEM education.

The approach

Cultivating STEM equity ambassadors to address the barriers to equity in STEM education addresses the challenge of preparing K-12 STEM educators through professional development programs that emphasize culturally relevant pedagogy and approaches. The project will integrate an experiential framework developed by Augusto Boal called Theater of the Oppressed that includes integration of gaming activities, image theatre and forum theatre, to increase awareness of the inequities that hinder inclusive learning environments. The aim is to normalize the contributions of culturally and linguistically diverse perspectives. 

The project is led by Tara Nkrumah, assistant professor at ASU’s Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College. The direct funding source is RTI International, a nonprofit research institute dedicated to improving the human condition, which distributes the funding on behalf of the Defense Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Education Consortium/Department of Defense. 

The portion of the project that Nkrumah is overseeing is $171,482 of a larger grant that totals $525,000. Nkrumah will collaborate with three other organizations to advance her part of the project. The three other groups are: 

• Intercultural Development Research Association (through its Alamo STEM Ecosystem program), an independent, non-profit organization dedicated to achieving equal educational opportunity for every child through strong public schools that prepare all students to access college and succeed in college.
• Teaching Institute for Excellence in STEM, which brings together partners in a wide range of fields and industries to reimagine STEM. Their services include helping with the comprehensive design of STEM schools, developing STEM learning ecosystems and supporting the development of digital fabrication labs.
• Learning Undefeated, which has a focus on driving race and gender equity in STEM through experiential and deep-impact learning experiences for students from under-resourced communities, including through mobile STEM education experiences. Learning Undefeated offers experiential education programs for grades K-12.

Theater of the Oppressed is integrated into the STEM grant project as an educational tool to challenge participants to better understand the systemic oppression faced by marginalized groups in STEM education. Through Boal's methods, which include gaming activities and forum theatre, TOTO encourages critical thinking and societal awareness among middle school students. The project's adoption of TOTO aims to foster critical consciousness and promote cultural and linguistic diversity within STEM fields, with a focus on empowering students affected by racial and gender-based marginalization. 

The project is one of several that Nkrumah is overseeing that have a shared focus on STEM and equity. It is affiliated with the grant called  DSEC STEM education and outreach partner. Another project Nkrumah is overseeing —  Black girls as creators: an intersectional learning ecosystem toward gendered racial equity in artificial intelligence education — is funded through the National Science Foundation.