Human Rights in Language and STEM Education : : Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics / / edited by Zehlia Babaci-Wilhite.

• HerausgeberIn: Babaci-Wilhite, Zehlia.
• Place / Publishing House: Rotterdam : : SensePublishers :, Imprint: SensePublishers,, 2016.
• Year of Publication: 2016
• Edition: 1st ed. 2016.
• Language: English
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (295 p.)
• Notes: Description based upon print version of record.

This volume explores the challenges of teaching and learning Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) subjects in local languages and local contexts in a range of countries around the world. Many countries around the world, including African countries, have been largely excluded from the transformation that is going on in STEM pedagogy in the USA, where the emphasis is on the importance of language choice and the development of English Language Learner (ELL). STEM subjects in many parts of the world have been taught in a global language, mainly English, rather than using a local language and local curriculum. This creates pedagogical challenges to the teaching of STEM. The contributions to this book review evidence and arguments for the teaching of STEM subjects in local languages and several chapters make this case that this should be considered a human right, both in national educational programs and in development aid. Working across disciplines and domains has the potential to lead to new understanding and the removal of barriers to progress with the ultimate goal of creating solutions to persistent problems in education. Cross-disciplinary work in science, language and literacy has shown much promise and demonstrated the importance of developing language along with disciplinary knowledge. This volume provides a deep dive into this topic, with articles by several scholars in the field of language in STEM.” – Jaqueline Barber, Director of the Learning Design Group at the Lawrence Hall of Science, University of California-Berkeley, USA “In an increasingly technological world, STEM Education has become a priority on national agendas and in educational institutions. Meaningful access to STEM education can enable or hinder young people from gaining entry into the world of work. It is against this backdrop that the edited collection, Human Rights and Language in STEM Education, needs to be welcomed. The various chapters tackle the big questions of access and many others. This edited collection is required reading for all those working in STEM and for policy makers who tend to see language and STEM as binaries, rather than as interdependent.” – Zubeida Desai, Professor and Dean of Education, University of the Western Cape, South Africa This volume by researchers from 10 countries provides a thought-and-action provoking multidimensional analysis of issues on the dignity of the use of STEM subjects in local education in the perspective of human rights. This book is especially recommended to researchers and education policy makers in such areas as STEM Educational Theory and Praxis, Human Rights, Future/sustainable Development, Science and Technology Literacy. May it inspire similar volumes in today’s politically ebullient world.” – Francisco Gomes de Matos, Professor Emeritus of Linguistics, human linguistic rights scholar, Federal University of Pernambuco, Recife, Brazil.

Table of Contents

Foreword: Paulo Freire Pedagogic Liberation through the STEM -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction -- Part I: Human Rights in Language and Science Literacy -- The Use of Local Languages for Effective Science Literacy as a Human Right -- Reading to Learn Science: A Right That Extends to Every Reader—Expert or Novice -- Designing Standards-Driven Curriculum to Support: Access to Science for All Students -- Part II: Equity and Critical Pedagogy in Technology and Human Rights Education -- Engineering Equity: A Critical Pedagogical Approach to Language and Curriculum Change for African American Males in STEM -- Curriculum and Social Change in Education for a Sustainable Future? Ecophilosophy, Critical Inquiry and Moral Dilemmas -- Localizing Human Rights Education through Technology: Two Literacy Based Examples -- Part III: Language of Instruction in Science and Technology -- English as the Language of Science and Technology -- Language, Scientific Knowledge, and the “Context of Learning” in African Education; Global Intersections of English Language Hegemony and Technological Innovation in the Republic of the Philippines -- The Importance of Local Language to the Development of Technology -- The Issue of English as a Medium of Instruction in Primary Schools in Pakistan: Learning English, Mathematics or Science? -- Part IV: Human Rights in Mathematics and STEM Education; Change in Space, Urban Culture and Ethnomathematics; Challenges of Mathematics Education in a Multilingual Post-Colonial Context: The Case of Suriname; Why Do Inconsistencies Persist in Children’s Rights to “Good” Education, Heritage Education and STEM Education? -- Human Rights in Development Aid for STEM Education in Nigerian Languages -- Afterword: Ethnomathematics and the Geometry of Art -- About the Authors.