In Transition: A Self-Study of Instructional Practices as an Informal Educator

• In Event: Marriott Roundtable Session 18
  In Roundtable Session: Positionality as a Lens for Self-Study Inquiry

Abstract

This scholarship utilized self-study methodology to examine my experience as an informal educator and informal teacher educator within the context of making and tinkering with elementary aged students and university students. Through analyzing multiple forms of data, I uncovered inner contradictions of myself, undergraduate students, and elementary aged students as we navigated and negotiated our roles and actions within at least two activity systems – a formal learning environment (i.e., school) and an informal learning environment (i.e., makerspace). From this analysis, I challenge our field of teacher education to consider the role of informal educators in our role as teacher educators in developing and maintaining shared practices, knowledges and Discourses (i.e., third space).

Authors

• Amber Simpson, Binghamton University - SUNY

• Michelle Lynn Feyerabend, Chenango Valley CSD