NYCoRE’s Inquiry to Action Groups: Developing Political Education Toward Liberatory Futures in Education

• In Event: Thursday Roundtable Session 10:50 am
  In Roundtable Session: Educators Working to Dismantle Oppressive Structures and Enacting Radical Activism and Pedagogies (Table 33)

Abstract

Educator activists, including teacher activist groups like the New York Collective of Radical Educators (NYCoRE), play an important role in transforming not only what happens inside classrooms but also educational systems. In this paper, we analyze NYCoRE’s use of Inquiry to Action Groups (ItAGs) as a form of political education or critical professional development for teachers, by teachers. Through thematic analysis of ItAG descriptions from the last eighteen years, we found that ItAG actions include: shifts in personal practice, the creation of public resources, public actions or presentations, and the formation of working groups. In the full paper, we discuss the need for similar types of political education given the current socio-historical moment.

Authors

• Jennifer Queenan, Graduate Center - CUNY

• Natalia Ortiz, New York University

• Pamela Segura