Underprivileged urban mothers' perspectives on science

The purpose of this article is to report our findings from a qualitative st udy intended to develop our understandings of how inner-city mothers percei ve science. Using qualitative methodologies, our analysis reveals that the mothers' perceptions can be grouped into four categories: perceptions of sc ience as (a) schoolwork/knowledge, (b) fun projects, (c) a tool for maintai ning the home and family, and (d) an untouchable domain. After we present t hese categories we compare our findings across categories to argue that tho se mothers who had spent time doing science with their children were more l ikely to have a more personal, dynamic, and inquiry-based view of science. We also argue that mothers' perceptions of science were more dynamic when t hey spoke about situations and contexts that were familiar to them, such as food, nutrition, and child care. We conclude the article with a discussion of the implications our findings have for science education reform. (C) 20 01 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.