The Possibilities and Limitations of Curriculum-Based Science Inquiry Interventions for Challenging the “Pedagogy of Poverty”

Low-income and minority students in the U.S. are disproportionately subjected to didactic, teacher-controlled instruction—a phenomenon called “the pedagogy of poverty” (Haberman, 1991 Haberman, M. 1991. Pedagogy of poverty versus good teaching. Phi Delta Kappan, 73(4): 290–294. [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). This study examined the role that curriculum-based interventions could play in addressing these equity issues in science education. Eight teachers from three demographically diverse urban schools participated. Teaching in intervention classrooms was more inquiry-based and less didactic than in control classrooms, and differences in control/intervention teaching were most pronounced at the two higher-need schools. Learning benefits were found for intervention students at these two schools. Findings suggested both potential and limitations of curriculum-based interventions in challenging the pedagogy of poverty.