Student Ingenuity and Learning During the Pandemic

• In Event: Student Sociopolitical Learning, Activism, and Voice During Times of Turmoil

Abstract

Purpose
Dominant narratives about the COVID-19 pandemic, including those advanced in the name of equity, dwell on all the risks, challenges, and “learning loss” experienced by students (e.g., Azevedo et al., 2020; Dorn et al., 2020; Lancker & Parolin, 2020). Although data showing the disproportionate challenges faced by minoritized youth from low-income families is necessary, these challenges should be accompanied by evidence about young people’s creativity, ingenuity, and persistence (Gutiérrez et al., 2017). The purpose of this paper is show how students continued to learn during the pandemic, just not in ways credentialed by schools.

Perspective
The analysis is shaped by a synthesis of two perspectives. The first foregrounds the community cultural wealth that participants bring to their educational experiences and avoids “damage-centered” narratives about communities of color.(Tuck & Yang, 2014; Yosso, 2005). The second draws on conceptions of ingenuity and consequentiality in learning--how young people leverage creativity, social relationships, and ingenuity to learn and adapt in challenging circumstances (Gutierrez et al., 2017; McDermott & Raley, 2011).

Methods & Data Sources
The paper is based on data from a broader research study documenting student learning in a district-wide student voice program. In this district 76 percent of students are classified as students of color and 63 percent qualify for the free and reduced lunch program. In the program, student teams identify an equity issue in their school, conduct original research, and propose a policy solution to school leaders (Authors, in press). In spring 2020 the researchers conducted virtual observations of student team meetings and interviewed 16 student participants at six high schools. Data analysis for this paper started with the aim of examining what students wanted and needed from online learning. But as we analyzed data we encountered student narratives about seeking out learning independently or among peer groups, but not for school credit. We revised our coding scheme to account for themes of ingenuity and persistence in student narratives about learning during the pandemic.

Results
Our paper examines three types of learning that students engaged in outside of school credit: sociopolitical studies, personal development, and activism. Sociopolitical studies refers to efforts to learn about topics that were salient for one’s identity or understanding of history, but not part of the formal school curriculum, such as Chicano/a studies. Personal development refers to examples of learning how to manage finances, gardening, younger siblings, or unstructured time. Activism refers to student efforts to change policies and practices at their schools, such as by collaborating with community groups to support a push for police-free schools.

Significance
The pandemic, as devastating as it has been, also provides an opportunity to disrupt and unsettle taken for granted assumptions about education and schooling (e.g., Roy, 2020). During this time of rapid change and uncertainty, theorizing about education and learning needs to center the agency, ingenuity, and persistence of learners. This work is important for how we design post-COVID educational futures and challenge deficit narratives about students of color.

Authors

• Ben Kirshner, University of Colorado - Boulder

• Beatriz Salazar-Núñez, University of Colorado - Boulder

• Arturo Cortez, University of Colorado - Boulder

• Carlos Porfirio Hipolito-Delgado, University of Colorado - Denver