Towards A Culturally Relevant Science Teaching to be Implemented in the Lebanese Context: A Systematic Literature Review

Abstract

Some studies have shown that Lebanese students tend to perform poorly in science which was evident in their low achievement in science when compared to international standards. Other studies, although limited, have shown that Lebanese students tend to have negative attitudes toward science. This was mainly attributed by researchers to the conventional teaching methods that are teacher-centered as well as the science textbooks that lack relevant connections to students’ backgrounds and everyday experiences. In the international research literature, culturally relevant teaching (CRT) was found to be a promising instructional approach toward making science more relevant to students through articulating congruence between students’ cultural experiences and science learning at school. The purpose of this study was to conduct a systematic literature review to examine the impact of culturally relevant teaching (CRT) and its potential to improve student achievement in science and develop their attitudes toward science, as well as to identify the main factors that ensure a successful implementation of CRT. Consequently, this study systematically reviewed several articles published on CRT across Arab and international contexts. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses flowchart (PRISMA) was utilized to identify, select, and filter studies that were included. In the identification phase of PRISMA, two steps were followed. The first step was defining the inclusion criteria that included country of origin (Arab and International contexts), literature type, searched keywords, publication date (between 2000-2022), language (English), and the population targeted in the studies (primary, elementary, and secondary). The second step was selecting relevant studies using two online search engines, Google Scholar and AUBLibraries, and utilizing the ancestry approach. In the screening phase of PRISMA, the selected studies were filtered after screening the title and abstract of each in light of all inclusion criteria. In the eligibility phase, the remaining studies were read thoroughly to assess their eligibility and alignment with the inclusion criteria. Finally, the inclusion phase of PRISMA identified 35 studies that were included in the systematic review. The findings of the synthesis were promising and suggested that CRT improves students’ achievement in science and shapes their positive attitudes toward science. Factors that foster successful CRT implementation were discussed, categorized into themes, and related to schools, teachers, teacher preparatory programs, and community people. This synthesis will provide a reliable resource for educators to design authentic culturally relevant learning experiences. Findings of this synthesis will also encourage researchers to implement CRT in the Lebanese context and investigate empirically its efficiency on Lebanese students’ achievement in science and attitudes toward science.