"Pivoting Toward the Light": Addressing Emotions in Systems Thinking Pedagogy Professional Development

• In Event: 66.086 - MTCC Roundtable Session 29
  In Roundtable Session: 66.086-6 - Critical Ways to Examine Systems Thinking in Teaching and Learning

Abstract

This paper examines the nature of teaching and learning during an intensive four-day teacher-led systems thinking professional development (PD) workshop. Using social constructivist theory, this qualitative study sought to understand what role systems thinking pedagogy (STP) plays in addressing uncomfortable social issues related to injustice. Data collected through interviews, participant observations, researchers journals, photos, promotional videos and literature were analyzed using narrative analytic techniques. Findings demonstrate how the PD was designed to foster an emotional response and highlight the complex emotional components inherent in the work of teaching and learning. We found that STP has the potential to arouse and inform teachers’ ability to address issues of systemic inequity in wholistic and novel ways.

Authors

• Laurie MacGillivray, The University of Memphis

• Gretchen S Goode, The University of Memphis

• Leslee Bailey-Tarbett, The University of Memphis