‘Unthinkable’ Selves: Identity boundary work in a summer field ecology enrichment program for diverse youth
‘Unthinkable’ Selves: Identity boundary work in a summer field ecology enrichment program for diverse youth
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“不可思议的”自我：针对不同青年的夏季田野生态丰富计划中的身份边界工作
DOI：
10.1080/09500693.2015.1033776
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发表时间：
2015
影响因子：
2.3
通讯作者：
Mary C. Ash
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
H. Carlone;Lacey D. Huffling;Terry M. Tomasek;Tess Hegedus;C. Matthews;M. Allen;Mary C. Ash
历史上不同青年在环境科学教育中的代表性不足，这与获得和身份相关问题密不可分。许多不同的年轻人以前的户外经验有限，作为学习和/或休闲的来源，可能会认为环境科学是“不可想象的”。这是一项对16名不同高中生参与的民族志研究，他们中没有一个人最初将自己塑造成“户外活动”或“动物人”，参加为期四周的夏季强化计划，重点是爬虫学（爬行动物和两栖动物的研究）。为了扮演“好”的参与者，年轻人的行为方式使他们远离自己的舒适区，我们将其称为身份边界工作。研究结果强调了以下文化工具、规范和实践，使青年的身份边界工作成为可能：（1）边界对象（该计划中经常使用的工具，促进青少年与动物和自然的接触，并帮助他们克服恐惧或不适）;（2）时间和空间（3）社会支持和集体能动性;（4）科学和轶事知识和技能。调查结果表明，共同持有的信念公平的教学法，假设科学的做法必须是有意义的和/或相关的青年参与有意义的挑战。此外，研究结果说明了恐惧的方式，在小剂量和同情处理，可能成为青少年与动物，自然和科学联系的资源。最后，我们建议，在该计划中，青年的身份边界工作可能会引发更持久的身份工作，给予额外的经验和支持。
The historical under-representation of diverse youth in environmental science education is inextricably connected to access and identity-related issues. Many diverse youth with limited previous experience to the outdoors as a source for learning and/or leisure may consider environmental science as ‘unthinkable’. This is an ethnographic study of 16 diverse high school youths’ participation, none of who initially fashioned themselves as ‘outdoorsy’ or ‘animal people’, in a four-week summer enrichment program focused on herpetology (study of reptiles and amphibians). To function as ‘good’ participants, youth acted in ways that placed them well outside their comfort zones, which we labeled as identity boundary work. Results highlight the following cultural tools, norms, and practices that enabled youths’ identity boundary work: (1) boundary objects (tools regularly used in the program that facilitated youths’ engagement with animals and nature and helped them work through fear or discomfort); (2) time and space (responsive, to enable adaptation to new environments, organisms, and scientific field techniques); (3) social support and collective agency; and (4) scientific and anecdotal knowledge and skills. Findings suggest challenges to commonly held beliefs about equitable pedagogy, which assumes that scientific practices must be thinkable and/or relevant before youth engage meaningfully. Further, findings illustrate the ways that fear, in small doses and handled with empathy, may become a resource for youths’ connections to animals, nature, and science. Finally, we propose that youths’ situated identity boundary work in the program may have the potential to spark more sustained identity work, given additional experiences and support.