Developing Professional Learning Communities Around Equity-Focused Practice-Based Teaching

• In Event: 66.079 - Roundtable Session 25
  In Roundtable Session: 66.079-14 - Division I Roundtable C: Cultural Competence and Equity

Abstract

This study provides insights into how a teacher education program has developed a professional learning community around equity focused teacher practice. Costa, Garmston & Zimmerman (2014) identify the need for educators to reflect personally and collaboratively as a path toward self-efficacy. The pre-service teacher education program has selected four core practices that are focused on equity and access. These core practices include: content rigor, content discourse, equitable access to content, and classroom ecology. The practices are implemented through various reflective contexts and structures. Preliminary findings suggest some convergence between reflective practice and enactment. Developing PLC’s that are structured around core practices may be a powerful means to transform educational practice and student learning.

Authors

• Imelda Nava, University of California - Los Angeles

• Jaime Park, University of California - Los Angeles

• Jarod N. Kawasaki, University of California - Los Angeles