Toward Empirically Grounded Design for Emancipatory Learning: Integrating Learning Sciences and Critical Theory Perspectives

• In Event: 33.078 - Roundtable Session 11
  In Roundtable Session: 33.078-1 - Explorations of STEM Teaching and Learning

Abstract

Emancipatory forms of education often engage urban youth in group discussions around social and racial justice themes. Yet, little is known about the nature of students’ prior knowledge on sociopolitical topics, and even less about how youth collaboratively negotiate and construct meaning within group settings. This knowledge is critical for the design of empirically grounded critical educational spaces. We argue that integration between learning sciences and critical theory perspectives can contribute conceptually and methodologically to this project. Drawing on retrospective field notes of youth at a Hackathon building a socially-relevant app, we outline “ideology in motion” and “influence as a proxy for power” as productive constructs that will guide the analysis and design of critical learning spaces.

Authors

• Sepehr Vakil, University of California - Berkeley

• Maxine Ramona McKinney de Royston, University of Pittsburgh