The Invisible Hand: Teacher-Led Versus Student-Led Civics Projects

• In Event: Elevating Student Agency to Promote Equity and Authenticity in Student-Led Projects

Abstract

Purposes
In 2018, Massachusetts passed a new bill requiring a year-long civics education curriculum for Grade 8, including a student-led civics project (SLCPro) (DESE, 2019). In 2020-2021, the [MASKED] piloted a SLCPro curriculum unit with Grade 8 civics teachers in 9 school districts across Massachusetts, representing different social, cultural, and ideological contexts. Based on the deeper civic learning/project-based learning (DCL/PjBL) framework, this multi-site case study addresses two research questions: (1) How did 14 Grade 8 civics teachers in Massachusetts implement student-led civics projects in socially, culturally, and demographically different schools?” and (2) “What instructional strategies did they use to create deeper civic learning in support of student civic agency?”

Perspectives
We situate this study in the context of PjBL/DCL, displayed in Figure 1. Drawing upon Mehta and Fine’s deeper learning framework (2019), the deeper civic learning model seeks to connect students’ authentic values and identities (civic dispositions) to disciplinary knowledge (civic knowledge) and offer them opportunities to put those knowledge and dispositions into student projects, such as student-led civics projects (civic skills). Seven elements of PjBL (the second column)––we adopted and modified from Grossman et al. (2019) and Larmer et al. (2015) ––are used as an instructional tool to facilitate the deeper civic learning process.

Methods and Data Sources
As part of a design-based implementation research project (Fishman, et al., 2013), our research is intended to support the improvement of curriculum design, classroom practice, and professional development. During the Spring of 2021, 14 teachers in nine school districts participated in the study. We deployed qualitative methods to collect and analyze data. The data sources include 35 interviews with teachers, school/district leaders, and instructional coaches; 4 student focus group interviews; 3 six-week SLCPro Unit classroom observations, PD observations, teacher logs, student work artifacts, and curriculum mapping.

Results
Our data showed that teacher implementation varied along a continuum of student-led approaches to SLCPro, according to teachers’ comfort level with PjBL/DCL and other contextual factors (Table 1). Successful student-led civics also involved strong teacher-led aspects behind the scenes, such as the teachers’ use of what we are calling “the invisible hand,” which guided students to early successes with the SLCPro and re-directed them when they were veering too far off path. The effective use of the invisible hand was important for giving students personalized nudges in the right direction, allowing them to develop a sense of agency and authenticity over the final outcome of their projects. Conversely, the heavy-handed teachers controlled the direction of the SLCPros for many students, depriving them of the opportunity to learn by doing. Student work from these teachers display less DCL than work completed under the direction of an “invisible hand” teaching approach.

Scholarly Significance
By identifying key instructional strategies across diverse demographic contexts, this study informs future PD and classroom practice to support successful implementation of student-led civics, including effective application of the “invisible hand” approach.

Authors

• Chaebong Nam, University of Missouri - St. Louis

• Lisa Utzinger Shen, N/A