Cult. Scie. Edu. (2007) 1:517–544 DOI 10.1007/s11422-006-9020-2 ORIGINAL ARTICLE Youths’ and scientists’ authoring of and positioning within science and scientists’ work Jr` ene Rahm Received: 1 November 2005 / Accepted: 1 November 2005 C  Springer Science + Business Media B.V. 2007 Abstract What would it take for youth to come to see science as a source of inspiration, as something intriguing and valuable, and as a world including them as active agents and legitimate members irrespective of who they are or who they want to become? I attempt to find some answers to this question by listening in on what youth have to say about science and scientists, talk occasioned through the conduct of oral histories of scientists and reflective work about visits to their work places, conducted by a small group of youth participating in an inner-city summer gardening program. I examine how youth and scientists position each other through talk and action and how they co-construct and deconstruct science and scientists’ work. I show how creating spaces within which youths’ images are validated and taken as resources for further co-construction and deconstruction of the world of science can lead to the development of broad notions of science that make insider status a possibility for them, whether as informed citizens or scientists. Keywords Images of science . Images of scientists . Perception of self . Positioning What would it take for youth to come to see science as a source of inspiration, as something intriguing and valuable, and as a world including them as active agents and legitimate mem- bers irrespective of who they are or who they want to become? That question is of central interest to researchers concerned about the dismal picture of students’ lack of interest and achievement in science, students’ narrow and often stereotypical notions of science and sci- entists, and students’ apparent lack of participation in the world of science – a picture even worse for women, minority and poor youth. It led to a re-examination of current school prac- tices and serious discussions about equality in science education as well as re-formulations of what science literacy entails (Calabrese Barton, 1998). Apprenticeships in science research settings as well as the development of apprenticeship- like learning environments in classrooms have become one promising and popular means J. Rahm Universit´ e de Montr´ eal, Facult´ e des sciences de l’´ education, D´ epartement de psychop´ edagogie et d’andragogie, C.P. 6128, succursale Centre-ville, Montr´ eal, QC, H3C 3J7 Canada e-mail: jrene.rahm@umontreal.ca Springer