“I’ll Do Some Soul Searching”: Navigating a Black Student–Teacher Relationship Within the Sociopolitical Terrain of Urban Science Education

• Published in: Urban education (Beverly Hills, Calif.) Vol. 60; no. 10; pp. 2800 - 2837
• Main Authors: Wade-Jaimes, Katherine, King, Natalie
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Los Angeles, CA SAGE Publications 01.10.2025; SAGE PUBLICATIONS, INC
• Subjects: Case studies; Education; Inequality; Learning; Middle Schools; Oppression; Preservice Teacher Education; School choice; Science; Science Activities; Science Education; Science Instruction; Student Teachers; Test Preparation; Urban areas; urban development < social; case studies < subjects; school choice < urban education; standardized testing < subjects; African American students < urban education
• ISSN: 0042-0859; 1552-8340
• DOI: 10.1177/00420859241293079

Using a multitiered framework, embedded in anti-Blackness, this qualitative case study centers a Black woman teacher and Black girl who were subjugated to multiple layers of oppression in a middle school science classroom. Findings revealed that systemic pressures, like standardized testing and school choice, hindered genuine learning. The teacher-participant felt compelled to prioritize test preparation over holistic education and noted how the science fair exacerbated racial inequities while midyear teacher reassignments fractured student–teacher relationships. This study underscores the need to name sociopolitical and historical factors to address structural and systemic inequities in urban science education.