CONNECTING GIRLS AND SCIENCE - A FEMINIST TEACHER RESEARCH STUDY OF AHIGH-SCHOOL PRENATAL TESTING UNIT

In this article, I explore how a dozen high-school sophomore girls exp ressed their relationship to and understanding of prenatal testing, an d its possible place in their lives and in the lives of others, in the context of a short unit on prenatal testing during a semester-long co urse in human genetics. The data come from an assignment designed to h elp students bring their understanding of prenatal testing into the re alm of personal choice, as well as practice applying the science of ch romosomal inheritance. Difference feminism is used to develop themes e vident in these girls' talk about prenatal testing. The instructional choices made were based on difference feminism, which implies that gir ls would be interested in science that connects to human bodies, child ren, and traditional women's responsibilities. This claim is elaborate d on and applied by this study, in which I concentrate on the question : How can difference feminism help us better to hear and comprehend hi gh school girls' relationships with reproductive technology, their own bodies, and their own lives? I propose that focusing on girls' Lives and knowledge is a way to consider alternatives in curricular content, in addition to helping us learn how to help more girls connect with s cience. (C) 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.