Chapter 6: Culturally Relevant Pedagogy and Connectivism: Disciplinary Literacy Challenges in Linguistically Diverse STEM Classrooms in the Middle Grades

Possibilities for practices that support culturally and linguistically diverse students appear widely in the context of elementary and secondary literature but are not as prevalent in the young adolescent or middle grades literature. Using a culturally relevant pedagogy lens, in this study we reveal considerations for the teaching and assessment of diverse learners. The vignettes of a purposive sample of teachers in high performing middle schools show how they enact a culturally relevant pedagogy in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) classrooms. In this chapter, we present teacher narratives that describe interactions with students, concepts for lessons, and strategies for instruction and assessment. We also discuss implications for classroom culture, making connections, disciplinary literacy skills, and digital learning.