Distinguished Contributions to Research in Education Award (2021) Lecture. How the Science(s) of Human Learning and Diversity (SoLD) Can Inform Foundational Truths About the Centrality and Complexity of Diversity: Wrestling With Interrogations of Race and Resiliency — From a Grandma's Lens

Session Type: Invited Speaker Session

Abstract

Current syntheses across disciplines examine the complexity of how humans learn and develop across the life span. These syntheses make clear the centrality of participation in cultural practices and the essentiality of diversity in pathways of development. While in theory these ideas are deeply complex, this presentation illustrates through everyday practices these complex relationships. These real world illustrations of foundational principles provide guidance for how we can address the underlying contributors to the public displays of current and historical hatred, the systemic negative othering fueling fights over what and how to teach about race, gender, sexual orientation, about the conundrums of our history – for they demonstrate resilience in the face of challenge, of foundational dispositions for empathy and ethics, and the possibilities of wrestling with complexity. The presentation concludes with exemplars of how as researchers we can study and document these complexities in the service of equity and wholistic learning and development.

Sub Unit

• AERA Sessions

Chair

• A.Lin Goodwin, Boston College

Presenter

• Carol D. Lee, Northwestern University