Social justice and out‐of‐school science learning: Exploring equity in science television, science clubs and maker spaces

We cannot take access to equitable out-of-school science learning for granted. Data compiled in 2012 show that between a fifth (22% in Brazil) and half (52% in China and the United States) of people in China, Japan, South Korea, India,Malaysia, theUnited States, the EuropeanUnion, andBrazil visited zoos, aquaria, and sciencemuseums (National Science Foundation, 2012). But research suggests participation in out-of-school science learning is far from equitable and ismarkedby advantage, not least the social axes of age, social class, and ethnicity (Dawson, 2014a, 2014b;National Science Foundation, 2012; OECD, 2012). For instance, in the UK data suggest that the two-thirds of the population who took part in out-of-school science learning activities1 in the previous year were more affluent (upper and middle classes) and from theWhite ethnic majority (IpsosMORI, 2014). If we believe that out-of-school science learning provides valuable educational, cultural, social and political opportunities, then wemust take questions of equity seriously. Ideas fromsocial justice canhelp us understandhowequity issues arewoven throughout-of-school science learning practices. In this paper, I outline how social justice theories, in combination with the concepts of infrastructure access, literacies and community acceptance, can be used to think about equity in out-of-school science learning. I apply these ideas to out-of-school science learning via television, science clubs and maker spaces, looking at research as well as illustrative examples to see how equity challenges are being addressed in practice. I argue that out-of-school science learning practices can be understood on a spectrum fromweak to strongmodels of social justice. Thinking about social justice as a spectrumhelps us think throughwhat equitable out-of-school science learningpracticesmight involve, both to analyze existing practices and, importantly, to imagine new, more inclusive ones. Out-of-school science learning is a broad term, used to describe quite different activities, participants, aims, and practices. It can mean enjoying science festivals, watching science documentaries, pursing science-related hobbies as well as activities focused on engineering, mathematics, or technology (see, e.g., Bonney et al., 2009; Dingwall & Aldridge, 2006; Kaiser, Durant, Levenson, Wiehe, & Linett, 2013). In this paper, I focus primarily on the contrasting worlds of television and science clubs as out-of-school science learning contexts2. I use “science” as an umbrella term