Redesigning Support Systems for Designated English Learners: The Case of School District Administrators (Poster 6)

• In Event: Reconceptualizing Designerly Thinking and Participatory Design With Students, Teachers, Administrators, and Community Members

Abstract

Purpose. We report on a four-year design thinking-based research-practice partnership with five K-8 districts aimed at bettering the learning experiences of students designated as English learners (DELs) (Authors, 2020). Our approach pairs professional learning about DELs with design thinking (DT) to redesign approaches taken in classrooms, schools, and districts. Herein, we describe how two district administrators developed system innovations.

Theory. DT is a constellation of processes and tools to solve complex problems, and it is finding its way into schools (Cross, 1982; Goldman & Kabayadondo, 2016). It involves a human-centered empathy approach that results in new perspectives, ideas, structures, or things. We aim to understand its potential role in K-12 settings where equity issues persist. Our research is grounded in sociocultural learning theory which understands tools, language, and social interaction as foundational for learning (Vygotsky, 1986). DT is a socially negotiated process with and for local end-users (Lave & Wenger 1991), and it is a process of democratizing learning and change through people working to confront obstacles and create change (Friere 1968; Dewey 1916).

Modes of inquiry. The project offered year-long professional learning about teaching DELs, and simultaneously led participants through the DT process. Over four years, including during the pandemic, there were 101 participants, including 45 site-level and district administrators. Taking an ethnographic approach, we documented the participants’ experiences and design innovations over time with yearly pre- and post-surveys, field notes, artifacts, participants’ reflections, meeting recordings, and focus group interviews.

Data & Analysis. We present two contrasting cases (Stake, 1995; Yin, 2009) that describe how administrators used DT to create systemic improvements on behalf of DELs (Gallagher & Thordarson, 2018). One case was bold in its innovations (personnel redeployment and redefinition), producing mixed results upon implementation. The second case evolved slowly, shifting key district structures (budget line items, goals, and parent involvement).

Findings. (1). The cases show different pathways through the DT process for administrators who were moving towards systemic change. One case reveals an active approach with solutions put into place and adjustments to them being made while in process. The other illustrates a long-view with multiple phases of empathy work and research into the DELs’ situations before changes were designed and implemented. In both cases, the administrators facilitated teachers’ knowledge building, awareness of inequities, and classroom-related change. (2). Empathy insights were key to motivating the change processes, motivating administrators to break through pre-existing preconceptions about DELs and focus their change efforts. Their design efforts show that the administrators came to understand DELs as grappling with social issues and conditions as well as technical aspects of language learning.

Significance. The research reveals how DT equipped district leaders with new ways to view and address persistent shortcomings in their schools’ resources and supports for DELs, such as a lack of specialized teachers and uneven attention to social and educational inequities. The empathy process helped administrators see the real people behind perpetually discussed learning gaps, motivating them to mitigate the disparities.

Authors

• Shelley V. Goldman, Stanford University

• Annie Camey Kuo, Stanford University

• Kimiko E. Lange, Stanford University

• Rose K. Pozos, Stanford University

• Melissa Mesinas, Whittier College