How Planning for Engineering Instruction Supported Culturally Responsive-Sustaining Pedagogy for PreK–12 Teachers

With the wide adoption of the Next Generation Science Standards across the United States and an increased focus on growing a diverse engineering workforce, learning to teach precollege engineering has become more important than ever. Yet limited precollege engineering certification pathway exists, leaving preK–12 teachers to integrate engineering with few resources or professional learning support. In high-need districts, where teachers are already underresourced and stretched thin, engineering may not make its way into the classroom at all. As a result, access to engineering and other STEM opportunities is disproportionately low among Black and Brown and/or low-income students in these communities, further contributing to their underrepresentation in engineering postsecondary education and careers. To address this inequity, teacher educators must support their preK–12 grade educators in implementing precollege engineering, especially that which is inclusive and relevant to all students. Our descriptive case study of 19 preK–12 teachers in a Teaching Engineering graduate-level course considered this disparity as we examined their lesson planning for engineering. With culturally responsive-sustaining education and teaching engineering epistemologies framing, we asked this question: During participation in a graduate-level Teaching Engineering course with an implicit Culturally Responsive-Sustaining Education Framework perspective, what kind of instructional materials did teachers create? Our analysis of lesson plan assignments, focus group interviews, and field notes contributed to findings that suggest that (a) teachers’ engineering plans unanimously included opportunities for academic success and rigor, (b) teachers had emerging plans for developing cultural competence, and (c) teachers needed more support and direct guidance in designing opportunities for critical reflection and action in engineering. We posit that even well-experienced STEM teachers require more support, particularly in identifying and contextualizing problems for design challenges, as they engage in culturally responsive-sustaining engineering education. This work has implications for more research on vertically articulated culturally responsive-sustaining precollege engineering professional learning and teacher education.