Learning Stories From a One-Room Schoolhouse: A Place-Based Research and Service Project

• In Event: Education Research Service Project Invited Poster Session

Abstract

This project will collect the educational stories (“learning stories”) of the teachers, students, and families of the Bennett School, a one-room schoolhouse in operation from 1926 to 1941 that has been preserved by the West Des Moines Historical Society (WDMHS). Then a sparsely-populated farming community ten miles from Des Moines, the area is now a rapidly-growing suburb, with an increasingly diverse population. As Iowa begins implementation of a new set of social studies standards that places new emphasis on local, state, and regional history, the partners ask: how can we connect the joys and struggles of the Bennett School’s students and families with the joys and struggles of today’s students and families? How can we connect (sub)urban students to this place’s once-rural past? The research team will help WDMHS assess previously-collected data on teachers’ current and prospective use of the Bennett School; engage in archival research to collect ‘learning stories’ from the Bennett School and surrounding communities; create and disseminate two or three place-based and inquiry-based modules to Central Iowa teachers; host a professional development session around these modules; and support the development of surveys of teacher and student learning from these modules.

Authors

• Michael Bowman, Iowa State University

• Jennifer Gallagher, Iowa State University

• Sarah Pamperin, Iowa State University