Empowering Students to Take an Active Role in How They Learn Biology

At a conference earlier this year, Dr. Vyjayanti Joshi, a science teacher at Lake View High School, attended a session on race, racism, and the biology of skin color. This solidified an idea she had for how to teach her students about genetics. She knew she wanted this unit to be taught through the lenses of race and racism. 

So, she connected with her administrative liaison, Assistant Principal Roneaka Thomas. During a one-on-one meeting, she shared her vision with AP Thomas, who was extremely supportive in bringing this idea to fruition. AP Thomas even had the great idea of connecting the lessons to Black History Month, which was taking place at the time. The finished initiative was a school-wide event that had a station for every lesson that was taught related to the overall topic of race, racism, and the biology of skin color. 

We had the awesome opportunity to hear more about these stations from the educators and school leaders who worked extremely hard to make them happen. 

Dr. Joshi: One station showed TikTok videos. One focused on a medical student talking about disparities in the medical field and how racism plays a part in our education system as well. For example, it showed a professor saying that some races have thicker skin compared to other races. Another video highlighted how the NFL’s formula for determining injury compensation was racially biased. Another station showed students that there is no genetic basis for race by having them group individuals based on race and seeing their gene bands. 

Alyssa Martin: The station that I was facilitating showed the relationship between geographic region and skin pigmentation. It started with asking students the question: “Where do you think people with lighter skin pigmentation live, and where do you think people with darker skin pigmentation live?” They placed colored stickers on a map to show their answers. They were then provided a map that showed information on pigmentation related to factors such as closeness to the equator and UV exposure. This helped them see the patterns between geographic region and skin pigmentation. 

Haley Whelan: Building on the idea that race is not determined by genetic factors, we started looking at some social or environmental factors that play into pigmentation. We looked at a census timeline from the beginning of the census collection to the modern day. It started with just two races. You were either white or black, and your race was assigned to you by a government census worker. We looked at how historical events impacted what was included in a census and even some of the racist terminology that was used even recently. This all helped students see how race is socially constructed. 

While these teachers had the big-picture vision for this project, it was the freshmen biology students who were presenting this information to their older peers. Here’s what AP Thomas had to say about the importance of having the students play an active role in sharing the importance of their work: 

“Going around and listening to the students and witnessing their presentations hit home for a lot of things that I have experienced in my own lifetime. A lot of things that we think may be common knowledge aren’t actually common knowledge. Having this opportunity to educate our school community amplified the message that no matter who you are or what your race or ethnicity is, your life is important and you are just as valuable as anybody else.” 

Members of the Lake View team were in agreement that biology and science have been used to harm in the past. But they noted that this experience highlighted how it can also be used to unite people and come together. Their perspectives as science educators have led them to believe that all of the differences that we’ve created are surface-level and socially constructed. At the end of the day, we are all so similar biologically, and that should be what drives us to build relationships with each other.