SESP Faculty

Megan Bang

Faculty Profile

Megan Bang (Ojibwe and Italian descent) is a Professor of the Learning Sciences and Director of the Center for Native American and Indigenous Research. Dr. Bang studies dynamics of culture, learning, and development broadly with a specific focus on the complexities of navigating multiple meaning systems in creating and implementing more effective and just learning environments in science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics education. She focuses on reasoning and decision-making about complex socio-ecological systems in ways that intersect with culture, power, and historicity. Central to this work are dimensions of identity, equity and community engagement. She works closely with Indigenous communities. She conducts research in both schools and informal settings across the life course. She has taught in and conducted research in teacher education as well as leadership preparation programs. Dr. Bang currently serves on the Board of Science Education at the National Academy of Sciences and is a member of the National Academy of Education.

Please see also the issue of SESP Magazine Spring 2019

• 2021 – AERA Scholars of Color Mid-Career Award
• 2021 – National Academy of Education – Elected Member
• 2015 – American Education Research Association – Bobby Wright Award for Early Career Contributions to Research in Indigenous Education
• 2015 – American Education Research Association, Division K, Teaching and Teacher Education, Early Career Award

Warren, B., Vossoughi, S. Bang, M., Taylor, E., Rosebery, A. (Working Paper/In Press/Under Review). Epistemic Heterogeneity and Disciplinary Learning in Nasir, Na’ilah Suad, Lee, Carol D., Pea, Roy, Handbook of the Cultural Foundations of Learning Routledge.

Tzou, C.T., Meixi, Suarez, W., Bell, P., LaBonte, D., Starks, E., & Bang, M. (2019). Making, materiality, and robotics within everyday acts of Indigenous presence and resurgence. Cognition and Instruction: 306-326.
(  Download )

Ishimaru, A.M., Bang, M., Valladares, M.R., Nolan, C.M., Tavares, H., Rajendran, A., Chang, K. (2019). Policy Memo: Recasting Families and Communities as Co-Designers of Education in Tumultuous Times. National Education Policy Center.

Ishimaru, A. M., Rajendran, A., Nolan, C. M., & Bang, M. (2018). Community Design Circles: Co-designing Justice and Wellbeing in Family-Community-Research Partnerships. Journal of Family Diversity in Education: 38-63.
(  Download )

Barajas-López, F., & Bang, M. (2018). Indigenous Making and Sharing: Claywork in an Indigenous STEAM Program.. Equity & Excellence in Education: 7-20.
(  Download )

Bang, M., Marin, A., & Medin, D. (2018). If Indigenous Peoples Stand with the Sciences, Will Scientists Stand with Us?. Dedalus: 148-159.
(  Download )

Medin, D., ojalehto, b., Marin, A., & Bang, M. (2017). Systems of (non-) diversity. Nature Human Behaviour.
(  Download )

Philip, T., Vossoughi, S., Bang, M., Zavala, M., & Jurrow, S. (2017). The Role of the Learning Sciences in a New Era of US Nationalism. Cognition and Instruction.
(  Download )

Brayboy, B. McKinley. J, Solyom, J.A., Chin, J.A. Tachine, A., Bang, M., Bustamante, N., Ben, C., Myles, C. Poleviyuma, Tom, M., Abuwandi, S., Richmond, A. (2017). Report for RISE: A Study of Indigenous Boys and Men. Paper prepared for RISE: Boys and Men of Color, Philadelphia, PA.. RISE: For Boys and Men of Color.

Bang, M., & Vossoughi, S. (2016). Participatory Design Research and Educational Justice: Studying Learning and Relations Within Social Change Making. Cognition and Instruction: 173-193.
(  Download )

Bang, M., Brown, B., Calabrese Barton, A., Rosebery, A., Warren, B. (2016). Reframing Diversity: Expanding Relationships between Students, Teachers, and Science Practices in Schwarz, C., Passmore, C., and Reiser, B., Moving Beyond “Knowing” Science to Making Sense of the World: Bringing Next Generation Science and Engineering Practices into our K-12 Classrooms.

Bang, Megan (2016). Making Human-Nature Relations: Settler-colonialism, Indigenous ways of knowing, and socio-cultural theories of learning in Esmonde, I. & Booker, A., Critical and socio-cultural theories of learning Routledge.

Dynamics of culture, learning, and development broadly with a specific focus on the complexities of navigating multiple meaning systems in creating and implementing more effective and just learning environments in science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics education; reasoning and decision-making about complex socio-ecological systems in ways that intersect with culture, power, and historicity.