Lyricism, Identity, and the Power of Lyricism as the Third Space

This study used the construct of “lyricism” as an instructional practice to explore the identity connections and cognitive learning potential embedded in instruction in a culturally relevant context. Through a 5‐week mixed methods study of students using the principles of lyricism (e.g., metaphor, double entendre, personification, polysemy, simile, and analogy), we used content analysis and interviews to analyze five students’ experiences learning science through lyricism. Our resulting analysis highlighted the generative potential of lyricism as a teaching tool, as students were required to develop a detailed understanding of the concept being taught to complete the lyrical tasks associated with the activity. We discovered that students developed a detailed understanding of the concepts while concurrently developing a rich appreciation of the scientific language they learned in the process. In this way, using lyricism as a teaching tool was paramount to the construction of a “third space” for science teaching and learning.