"OK, We Need Solutions": Learning to Be Student-Centered Activist Teachers

• In Event: 18.063 - Action, Activist, and Narrative-Oriented Research in Physical Education

Abstract

This study explores how educators learn to use a Student-Centered Inquiry as Curriculum approach to better facilitate students’ interest, motivation and learning in physical activity settings. Participants included a university professor, a college instructor, a postdoctoral student, a doctoral student, and a pre-service teacher. Data collection included weekly field notes and debriefings following observations, teacher artifacts, weekly collaborative group meetings, and 2 individual interviews. The main challenge that emerged was learning how to move from a theoretical understanding of student centered pedagogy to the practice of student centered pedagogy, specifically, the amount of time that was necessary to build a foundation, teacher and student assumptions, and the struggle to gather and use meaningful data to guide pedagogical decisions.

Authors

• Kimberly L. Oliver, New Mexico State University

• Carla Nascimento Luguetti, Santa Cecília University

• Raquel Aranda, New Mexico State University

• Oscar Nunez Enriquez, Autonomous University of Chihuahua

• Ana-Alycia Rodriguez, J. Paul Taylor Academy