OK, so this week's blog prompt is designed to start a conversation about what topics/areas of inquiry might be of interest/.suitable to use as a way to tether our philosophical/theoretical work in class to real world issues/problems. Nothing is set yet, but right now I am thinking that perhaps we can settle on three or so topics and folks can work in small "inquiry-to-action" groups. From our discussion in class, it seems that you are thinking that we will mostly dwell on the "inquiry" part of the inquiry-to-action project.
The idea is that once we nail down some areas of study, then we can read/discuss work that will illuminate the theories that are at play. The hope is that doing this work in the context of real issues will serve as examples of how we can use theory to do educational work that can lead to social change. So, for this post, let's start by sharing the kinds of areas of study/issues/problems etc. that might be of interest. One of our goals in class next week will be to use the blogs as a starting point in an effort to coalesce around a set of issues that will provide a group of interest for everyone.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteSeveral of you already know about one of my current endeavors that’s developed into a significant research interest and may be pertinent to what we’re working to accomplish in class. A couple months ago, I was elected the new Board Chair of the Richmond Cycling Corps (RCC), an organization here in Richmond that serves youth in public housing though cycling. The founder and now former executive director who nominated me was selected as a 2016 CNN Hero for his development of this organization in 2005. The subsequent publicity coupled with the internal challenges of maintaining a nonprofit resulted in the board moving RCC to extend in a new direction. On September 4, 2018, RCC opened our own school, The Legacy Academy, operating as a homeschool in Richmond’s East End as we work towards the seven-year accreditation process.
ReplyDeleteThe month of August included raising funds, securing partnerships, and attaining supplies. We also hired two full-time teachers who additionally serve as our executive director and program manager. We started with ten students and have an eleventh student as of last week; we hope to add one more student by the end of fall semester. Our Legacy students are high school-aged youth and experienced events that would likely result in their non attendance of any educational institution including expulsion(s) and incarceration(s). The selection process for our student body included teenagers we believed to most be at risk for endangering themselves for their communities yet were willing, along with their families, to give homeschooling with us a try.
Our teachers pick up each student in the morning and we provide breakfast and lunch for our kids. The Legacy students participate in the official school sport of cycling and compete in mountain bike races on some weekends and go to the YMCA for P.E. Through a partnership with VCU, our youth go to the Rice Rivers Center once a week for environmental science-based learning. The kids also insist that our new school pet, Bob the Bearded Dragon, receives his daily supply of crickets. Each of the four Board members mentors two to three students and we exchange snail mail letters each week as part of the school’s designated journaling sessions in the morning.
The theories behind all the intricacies of what affects my RCC/Legacy students overwhelms me as I have so many questions where there likely exists no single combination of answers. I’d really like to aim to better recognize, know, and deeply comprehend theories that speak to the endless cycles that result in youth and adults remaining in poverty, public housing, welfare and so forth that spans multiple generations despite a multitude of government and NGO responses and programs. (That was a really long and possibly run-on sentence.) This is also a really long blog response so I’ll end it here - if anyone would like to learn more about these two organizations and our work (or if you’re interested in getting involved!) please take a look here:
http://www.richmondcyclingcorps.org/
https://www.thelegacyacademy.org/
I would like to work from a critical theory perspective, as this is my area of interest. I am beginning to lean in the direction of technology as the focus of my research, but in the context of critical theory, and I am interested in investigating possible inequities with technology in education such as:
ReplyDelete1. How do one-one initiatives benefit students who have limited access to high speed internet at home due to poverty, geographic availability, etc. Are schools doing anything to help alleviate these problems if they exist, such as offering extended school hours, and transportation/supervision for such?
2. Do expenses such as technology fees, required devices, etc. affect the availability of these courses for low-income students?
3. What is the level of integration of technology in schools with respect to student production? Are students actually producing and employing technology for creativity, communication, and collaboration, or are they just using the technology to search the internet and play math and reading games, etc.?
4. Does the level of students' productive use of technology vary based on race, gender, ethnicity, SES, etc. In other words, are the only kids in the school who are using technology for production the kids in the G/T, advanced classes, etc.?
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI found myself incredibly interested in the Hytten (2016) article. This article caused me to critically consider my own role in promoting democratic ideals with my students. In some ways, the skills I promote through student-centered discourse, text selection, project-based learning, etc. are aimed at influencing competent and responsible citizens, but I could not help but confront some areas where my instruction may fall short. If Hytten’s (2016) assertion that democracy must be “deliberately fostered and nourished,” then I’m curious as to the ways in which the high school teachers in the tri-city area are carrying out this imperative (p. 2).
ReplyDeleteSuch curiosity hints at my greater research interest: determining what leads practicing teachers to reflect on their craft. Whereas I found this article to prompt thoughtful introspection, I honestly do not know that I would have read it on my own, much less would I have potentially stumbled upon it unless I was seeking out this coursework.
I’m brainstorming a bit here, but I do think enough of us have access to large samples of teachers, and part of me feels like that’s a resource worth exploring. I’m not sure what shape such a project could take, but I think anything that could empower the local educator to potentially become more reflective has worth.
Another idea relates to a program a former student of mine has had a hand in shaping. He is helping to develop a program that seeks to “empower and cultivate students of color to visualize themselves as competitive contributors to society locally and globally, while acquiring valuable knowledge and skills that will support them as lifelong learners.” This quotation comes right from the organization’s mission statement. I don’t know what it would look like to partner with an organization that is still in the process of defining its vision, but I know I’ve been wanting to use my resources to build support for this young man as he seeks to empower marginalized learners. He sought me out as potential board member for this upcoming year. Here is the link to this program www.3eprograms.org
9-18-18
ReplyDeleteI came away from the Hytten article with a little more frustration with theorists than I expected. I agree that the ideal school environment should be a collaborative, progressive democratic space that fosters not only fully engaged citizens but also compassionate human beings. But the ideal clashes with reality. For example, Hytten identifies Federal Hocking HS as an amazing success story in school reform through democratization; however, she neglects to mention that FHHS had about 200 students and a faculty of about 16, which is about 1/10 the size of the school where I currently teach. So the principal (Wood, who is now the school division superintendent) only had to convince about 200 people to buy in to his vision, and he had the power to implement it.
But what are we to do if we don’t have top-down support and a small enough community to engage everyone? We build democratic institutions from the ground up by recruiting/coopting/waylaying students into greater involvement (or any involvement) in structuring and defining their learning goals and assessment methods in the classrooms. We also have to convince teachers that this approach would be beneficial to them as well.
I’ve been kicking this idea around for a while. My students and I began discussing the role of student voice in education last spring, and I continue to have those discussions this school year as well. I learned that my students view education as something done to them versus something they help shape and guide in collaboration with their peers and teachers. They also have a skeptical (or even cynical) view of community-focused projects or view them as theoretical tasks that will never reach implementation in a real-world setting. Too many years of rigid expectations, assignments, assessments, and classroom roles have significantly disempowered and jaded them. So perhaps small, incremental change toward empowering students to take more participatory roles in their learning while demonstrating to teachers how to share power without relinquishing high expectations might prove an interesting project that could potentially incorporate different theoretical models (critical theory springs to mind quite readily).
My area of interest is critical theory and technology integration at the university level. I would like to work on this topic. I am interested in drawing on the TPACK (Technological, Pedagogical, Content Knowledge) framework and the Bourdieusian concepts of field, habitus and capital to examine the nature of teachers’ knowledge within the English language teaching context and the types of knowledge constructs that promote technology integration.
ReplyDeleteI would like to explain the teachers’ technological, pedagogical and content capital by contextualizing their technological practices within the cultural norms and the prevailing educational paradigms.
Comment from Susan
ReplyDeleteI would like to work, either in research as a typical class assignment or through research along with action to aid the community in culturally relevant/sustaining pedagogy, critical theory, critical race theory. I am open to ideas about how to serve the community, as those that I have may not be best suited for this course.
I’m interested in instructional technology, and it’s exciting to see Joy and Moe are too! Specifically I am inteserested in maker-centered learning in formal education. I would love to see if this type of learning actually promotes critical thinking, problem solving, creativity, and collaboration within the context of formal education. I think this field could also benefit from a critical viewpoint in terms of equity across schools with varying SES and even within a school.
ReplyDeleteI am interested in working with teachers to increase teacher agency and voice. The Hytten reading definitely intrigued me in the sense that she presents an ideal environment centered on democracy. I do think that there are major obstacles in our schools that hinder teachers' ability to enact such a curriculum. I would be interested in working with teachers to hear their opinions on their power to make decision for their classrooms and what power they do or do not feel they have and why. I am open to lots of ideas, but would be specifically interested in working with current or pre-service teachers.
ReplyDeleteThat is Brooke (I keep forgetting to write my name! sorry!)
ReplyDeletePosted by Jacqueline
ReplyDeleteAfter reading the Hytten article, I thought an interesting project would be to create a democratic teaching module. It could be designed around a single subject or a number of subjects.