Whose Truths? Exploring Post–No Child Left Behind Student Worldviews in a Capstone History–Social Science Course

• In Event: 43.077 - MTCC Roundtable Session 15
  In Roundtable Session: 43.077-2 - Critical Praxis, Intersectionality, and Truth-Telling in Secondary and Postsecondary Education

Abstract

Objectives: The educational impacts of No Child Left Behind (NCLB) on the experiences of learners has had a profound impact on the way Millennials and Post-Millennials (those born between 1981-96 and 1997-present, respectively; Dimock, 2018) view and engage information in the world. Many educators acknowledge the stark differences in the way current generations engage learning as a result of standardized testing and the teaching to the test.
Our paper identifies this phenomenon as a Post-NCLB era that has afforded an increase in the acceptance and perpetuation of a Post-Truth society. We argue that as a result of NCLB, many (Post) Millennials’ worldviews have been shaped without meaningful opportunities for critical thinking and problem solving skills that allow them to navigate a digital world that is full of falsehoods and fake truths. These bodies of information become the basis for the realities that they then operate within creating additional challenges for teacher educators at the university level who are preparing them to become future educators.

Framework: The conceptual framework guiding this project blends aspects of several concepts identified as tenets of the course in which the study took place: culturally sustaining pedagogies (CSP; Paris & Alim, 2017); universal design for learning (UDL; CAST.org); social justice (SJ; Hackman, 2005); multiple intelligence (MI; Gardner, 1999) and student worldviews. Using these tenets as a basis, the framework is partitioned into three parts: concepts applied, products generated, and student outcomes.

Methodology: What are the teaching and learning experiences for pre-pre-service teachers in a undergraduate capstone course that integrates history-social science content (HSS) with the course tenets of UDL, CSP and SJ in the Central Valley of California? Within this case study (Stake, 1995; Yin, 2003), a total of sixteen participants’ course work was analyzed to identify (both inductively and deductively) any themes related to the instructional and intellectual process of teaching and learning that constructively synthesizes technology, content and cultural aspects of students/teachers with an explicit emphasis on the intersecting nature of the political, personal, and social elements that impact their lives and communities.

Data Collection and Analysis: The case study incorporated qualitative approaches including document/discourse analyses of course artifacts eg. (weekly reflections, three intervals of survey data). Descriptive statistics were used to capture an overarching perspective of all students who have been enrolled in the course. Data was coded based on the conceptual framework to generate themes: student voice, instances of cognitive dissonance, and student resistance.

Findings: The preliminary findings focus on the opportunities for critical thinking and voice afforded to students in the past as compared to the experiences during their participation in the course. Students highlighted the interplay of personal factors and diverse influences that were in conflict or agreement with course content and design. Many students articulated perspectives that were shaped from their experiences as students within Post-NCLB education.

Significance: The findings signify the further need for teacher educators to create meaningful learning opportunities for their students that both foster and disrupt preconceived notions shaped by their socialization via NCLB.

Authors

• Patrick S De Walt, California State University - Fresno

• Nan Barker, California State University - Fresno