“Eh, Mus’ Be Smart Class”: Race, Social Class, Language, and Access to Academic Resources

I teach prospective elementary and secondary teachers at the University of Hawaii-Manoa, a second career that follows more than 20 years of teaching science in Hawaii’s public and private schools. Why I became a science teacher and teacher educator instead of a research scientist is the first of several stories about power, privilege, and schooling in this chapter. The stories set the stage for my work as a teacher educator at a minority institution preparing prospective teachers to be sensitive to the ways class, culture, ethnicity, language, and gender impact on teaching and learning, particularly in science.