From Equitable AI to Intersectional Environmentalism; a youth-centered, Culturally Responsive Curriculum
NATIONAL ACADEMY FOUNDATION, NYDOE
THE partnerS
The National Academy Foundation (NAF) is a pioneering US non for profit on a mission to transform the high school experience through work-based learning. With 620 academies across the US that serve more than 112,000 students NAF’s curriculum approach brings the classroom to the workplace and the workplace to the classroom. In early 2022, we partnered with NAF and the New York Department of Education, the country’s largest school district to create three units centered around culturally responsive and affirming projects in STEM industries.
THE CHALLENGE
The New York Department of Education had recently launched the Culturally Responsive Curriculum Framework. Alongside with NAF, a leader in equity driven youth programming and curriculum development the partners were looking to develop new culturally responsive curriculum that aligns with student’s interests, NAF’s work-based learning approach and developed in equitable ways.
THE DESIGN QUESTION
How might students and teachers co-design a culturally responsive and affirming curriculum centered around real life scenarios in a deeply engaging, affirming and relevant way?
THE BIG IDEA
Let's create a curriculum that engages students in real life projects where they take on the role of professionals to tackle big issues around equity, intersectionality and racial justice.
THE DESIGN PROCESS
Like with all our projects we introduced a co-design approach to work with a group of educators from all around the country with expertise in teaching STEM topics within a project based framework. After an initial discovery phase we agreed on three topics connected to a real life scenario that students would engage with. Those topics were:
Intersectional Environmentalism where students take on the role of community advocates helping hypothetical residents of Cancer Alley in Louisiana
Equitable Artificial Intelligence where students act as congressional staffers completing research on facial recognition in high-stakes law enforcement scenarios to inform their congressperson’s potential vote on a new bill
Sustanability and Tourism where students respond to a hypothetical brief from the tourism board of Puerto Rico seeking a new tourism facility project that is environmentally, culturally, socially, and economically sustainable for the island
THE OUTCOME
““I loved that I was able to introduce students to something relative to what they have been through, the activity fostered collaboration with their peers, and opened their knowledge of different career paths like being a Medical Researcher, an Environmental Scientist or a Policy Analyst” ”
We delivered a well-rounded set of curriculum that was piloted by the co-design group with positive reactions from students who felt engaged in the topics and excited to take on real world professions like policy researchers, community advocates, environmental scientists, and medical researchers.
Each unit was introduced through a narrative that called students to action on a real-world scenario and proceed in a series of lesson where they conducted experiments, research and worked in teams to prepare for a final challenge.
