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Tracing different forms of politicized care in teaching physics to students traditionally underserved in science

Clausell Mathis

Sherry A. Southerland and Lama Z. Jaber

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Phys. Rev. Phys. Educ. Res. 21, 020121 – Published 8 September, 2025

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/yvbc-n7vk

Abstract

In this yearlong, naturalistic case study in a high school physics classroom, we examine the different dimensions of politicized care displayed by Sarah, an African American teacher teaching physics to working-class students of color traditionally underserved in science. Through extended field observations and a series of interviews with the teacher, we identified the various forms of care, social, epistemic, and academic, that Sarah expressed for her students throughout her teaching. We recognized that these forms of care are manifestations of Sarah’s politicized care. As we traced Sarah’s care along these different forms, we identified tensions and synergies among these expressions of care, differentially shaping opportunities for students’ disciplinary learning. More broadly, our findings call for conceptualizing politicized care as an essential aspect of effective physics teaching, especially for minoritized students. This care involves careful acts of balancing disciplinary and teaching demands, mindful of wider societal and institutional inequities while honoring children as social, academic, and epistemic beings. Such care for her students can be understood as an intentional act of resistance to current oppressive educational and wider societal systems.

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Phys. Rev. Phys. Educ. Res. 21, 020121– Published 8 September, 2025
  • Received 31 March 2025
  • Accepted 12 August 2025
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