Someone Like Me - A Trial of Context-Responsive Science as a Mechanism to Promote Inclusion

Oct 15, 2026

Evidence from two suites of non-formal science activities examined how culturally contextualised design can increase engagement and inclusion for groups under-represented in science. Activities were implemented and evaluated in two contrasting contexts (urban and very rural) and tailored to South Asia–linked communities and Gaelic-medium learners in Scotland, while engaging beyond the target group. Participant responses used writing or drawing on blank postcards to generate unstructured qualitative data. Findings indicate exploratory, context-rich approaches promote engagement and attention to consequences, whereas standard protocol activities mainly increased subject-specific knowledge.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages25

Reading Time1 h 3 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

STEM for all pupils and persistent recruitment concerns

Context-responsive science and educational inclusion

DOI: [https://doi.org/10.26529/cepsj.1691](https://doi.org/10.26529/cepsj.1691) Someone Like Me: A Trial of Context-Responsive Science as a Mechanism to Promote Inclusion Jane Essex*1, Kirsty Ross2 and Ingeborg Birnie2 • This paper provides evidence gathered from two suites of non-formal science activities that were intended to increase engagement in science by culturally diverse groups. Both studies involved the delivery of science activities that were designed, implemented and evaluated to show culturally contextualised science. The activities were run in two very different contexts (urban and very rural areas) and were designed to be of relevance to two distinctive cultural groups (those with links to South Asia, and those being educated through the medium of Gaelic, an indigenous minority language in Scotland), while also actively engaging with those beyond the target group. The link between language identity and culture was incorporated into the design of both sets of activities as well as the qualitative evaluation. The latter considers how the participants’ assessment of the interventions, implemented by writing or drawing on a blank postcard, was designed to provide unstructured responses and explores what the resulting data revealed about the impact of the interventions. The findings suggest that the set of activities that most strongly engaged participants on the value of diversity in the creation of scientific knowledge, as well as increasing their focus on the consequences of scientific activity, were those that facilitated a more exploratory approach to the subject matter. By contrast, activities that had to be done according to a standard scientific protocol produced growth in subject-specific knowledge. The present paper explores the principles of the inclusive pedagogies that informed the design of the activities and discusses how these were operationalisedin two very contrasting cultural contexts. The key finding was that presenting science as social practice, rather than as being socially neutral, is key to promoting engagement, along with the benefits of explicitly demonstrating the relevance of science to participants’ daily lives. Keywords: inclusion, equity, culture, diversity, context-based science 1 *Corresponding Author. Institute of Education, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, United Kingdom; [jane.essex@strath.ac.uk](jane.essex@strath.ac.uk). 2 Institute of Education, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, United Kingdom. Nekdo kot jaz: preizkus naravoslovja, prilagojenegakontekstu, kot mehanizem za spodbujanje inkluzije Jane Essex, Kirsty Ross in Ingeborg Birnie • V prispevku so predstavljeni dokazi, zbrani na podlagi dveh sklopov neformalnih naravoslovnih dejavnosti, katerih namen je bil povečati vključenost kulturno raznolikih skupin v naravoslovje. Obe študiji sta vključevali izvajanje naravoslovnih dejavnosti, ki so bile zasnovane, izvedenein ovrednotene tako, da so prikazovale naravoslovje, kontekstualiziranos kulturo. Dejavnosti so se izvajale v dveh zelo različnih okoljih (mestna in podeželska območja) in so bile zasnovane tako, da so bile pomembneza dve različni kulturni skupini (člani prve imajo vezi z južno Azijo, člani druge skupine pa se izobražujejo v gelščini, jeziku avtohtone manjšine na Škotskem), hkrati pa so aktivno vključevale tudi osebe zunaj ciljneskupine. Povezava med jezikovno identiteto in kulturo je bila vključenav zasnovo obeh sklopov dejavnosti pa tudi v kvalitativno vrednotenje. Zadnje obravnava, kako so udeleženci ocenjevali intervencije, ki so jih izvajali s pisanjem ali z risanjem na prazno razglednico, in kako so bilizasnovani za zagotavljanje nestrukturiranih odgovorov, ter raziskuje, kaj so pridobljeni podatki razkrili o učinku intervencij. Rezultati kažejo, da je bil sklop dejavnosti, ki je udeležence najmočneje pritegnil k razmišljanju o vrednosti raznolikosti pri ustvarjanju naravoslovnega znanjain povečal njihovo osredinjenost na posledice narav

FAQs

What were the two studies designed to accomplish?

They provided evidence based on two suites of non-formal science activities intended to increase engagement in science for culturally diverse, under-represented groups.

How were the activities adapted for different cultural groups and settings?

The activities were run in urban and very rural contexts and were designed to be relevant to two cultural groups: those with links to South Asia and those educated through Gaelic, while also engaging people beyond the target groups.

What did the findings suggest about effective approaches to engagement?

Activities that enabled a more exploratory approach, presenting science as social practice and showing relevance to participants’ daily lives, most strongly engaged participants. In contrast, activities following a standard scientific protocol mainly increased subject-specific knowledge.

Oct 15, 2026

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