“The Most Important Book Group . . . Ever”: Elementary Teachers’ Critical Consciousness Development Using Systems Thinking

• In Event: Thursday Roundtable Session 9:00 am
  In Roundtable Session: A Rising Tide Lifts All Ships: Critically Conscious Educator Communities (Table 34)

Abstract

As a community of practice, one voluntary book club of experienced educators engaged in professional development focused on systems thinking (ST). ST has the potential to promote a socially just world through its foremost principle that everything is interconnected and interdependent. Problematic concerns, such as racism and environmental degradation, are systemic and thus require a systemic solution. Some K-12 classroom educators have used ST to explore these issues with their students. This qualitative case study’s findings, through a critical consciousness perspective (reflection, motivation, and action), point to how participating in the book club’s investigative dialogue supported educators' self-recognition as intellectual and social agents capable of taking hopeful action to disrupt problematic sociohistorical contexts and initiate change alongside their students.

Authors

• Margaret Sauceda Curwen, Chapman University

• Amy L. Ardell, Mount Saint Mary's University