Striving for community responsiveness in a science museum’s summer program for middle school children

Children living in low-income communities do not commonly participate in science-related summer school programs. These informal education spaces have historically been designed without children at the margins in mind, but a recent trend in research has made a strong call for recognition of and response to learners’ community contexts. This study explores the community responsiveness of a science museum program designed for children living in low-income circumstances. We used surveys, field notes, and interviews with child participants, parents, program facilitators, and program managers to explore how the program addressed the relationship, relevance, and responsibility dimensions of community responsiveness. Our findings reveal a strong emphasis on care and shared life experiences that supported relationship-building between the child attendees and their peers and program facilitators. Relevance of content, not always instructional practices, was appreciated by children and parents for exposing the children to unfamiliar science-related professional fields. We identify the reticence of program facilitators and managers to explicitly engage in conversations about the sociopolitical context that limits children’s sustained participation in science education and careers, and encourage them to seek opportunities for reciprocity, emphasizing sustained engagement with the community.