Leadership, Equity, STEM, and Systems Change: A Museum-Based Extension Service Model

• In Event: 77.050 - Museums and Teacher Professional Development: Illuminating the "Invisible Infrastructure" of Science Institutions in Teacher Learning

Abstract

Objectives. This research investigates the impact of a museum-based model of PD for K-12 district leaders focused on educational systems change through the integration of access and equity, STEM education, and leadership. Quantitative and qualitative data evidence powerful positive outcomes regarding participant perceptions of their knowledge, preparedness, and application; application of participant learning to district-based PD; and impact on leaders, teachers, and students in one deeply engaged district.
Research context. From 2011–2018 the science museum’s [grant removed]-funded program worked with teams of K–12 leaders from 29 districts in the Upper-Midwest. The effort included 11 face-to-face days of PD for each new annual cohort and 4 days of additional PD for returning veterans on an annual basis.
Theoretical Framework. The research effort is grounded in a framework which focuses on the intersections between (1) identity and systems of oppression, (2) STEM values and beliefs, and (3) leadership for complex environments. The Framework draws from critical theory, sociology, social psychology, the nature of STEM, and organizational change.
Methods. We used a mixed-method approach including interviews, written reflections, case studies, and surveys. Using a retrospective pre/post format, the Knowledge, Preparedness, and Application Survey (KPA), probes frequency of actions; confidence; and knowledge, preparedness, and application across 25 items related to the Framework.
Data sources and analysis. Survey data were analyzed with non-parametric statistical tests, including t-tests, and effect sizes were generated to assist with the interpretation of mean score differences from 72 participants who completed the KPA in 2018. The case study was conducted using participant observation, key informant interviews, and document analysis. Inductive coding and constant comparative analysis of themes were used to analyze qualitative data.
Results. Analysis of the KPA Survey evidences massive shifts in confidence, leadership and professional culture, identity and intersectionality, and reconstructing STEM education for access and equity. Of the 84 items using the 4-point scale, 28 items had effect sizes of ≥2.0; 51 items had effect sizes of 1.0–1.99; and 1 item had an effect size of 0.94. While these data cannot address the frequency or quality of implementation, such self-assessments are appropriate for measuring self-efficacy, an important predictor of motivation and skill performance. The case study yielded insights about one deeply-committed district’s motivation for long-term engagement and their model of spreading PD content through the district.
Significance. Museums have the potential to provide unique environments for engaging K-12 teachers and leaders in transformative learning that translates into shifted paradigms and more equitable practice within their systems. Freedom from the strictures of highly-specialized theoretical foci, specific curriculum and standards demands, and the complexities of large district bureaucracies provides opportunity for museum-based PD to draw widely from the rich array of research available and to ask engage participants in deep inquiry into the cultures of their systems, the ways in which inequities manifest themselves within those systems, and strategies and skills for engaging their colleagues in working collectively to bring about positive systems change to increase equity and positive outcomes for students.

Authors

• Liesl Chatman, Science Museum of Minnesota

• Amy Grack Nelson

• Lauren Causey

• Erin Villegas Strauss

• Travis Sandland