Designing for Others: Inviting Teachers to Create Discussion Scaffolds for an Online Portal

• In Event: Innovative Models in Teacher Education for Social Studies Discussions

Abstract

Objectives
The importance of student-to-student classroom discourse as a core classroom activity to support learning and inquiry in social studies is widely acknowledged (e.g., Hess, 2009; Parker et al, 2011), yet teachers need professional development to support such instruction. This study focuses on world history teachers who are least likely to receive professional development: a recent study found only 6.4% of professional development offerings for social studies teachers focused on world history (Halvorsen, 2013). We follow 12 teachers who participated in a 2-year design-based research study (Barab & Squire, 2004; DBR Collective, 2003) to develop discussion scaffolds to supplement a widely-used online world history curriculum. We ask: How did the purpose of designing for others shape teachers’ experience and curriculum development?

Theoretical Framework
We use cultural-historical activity theory (CHAT) (Cole, 1996; Engström, 1993) to analyze how the collective activity of designing for others, mediated teachers’ planning, design, enactment, and iteration of the discussion-based lessons. CHAT understands individual learning as fundamentally social, mediated by cultural artifacts, and situated in object-oriented activity. It is a fitting theory for analyzing the experiences and learning of teachers who were presented with an unconventional object around which to organize their design activity.

Methods
Participating teachers (N=12) were recruited to design discussion scaffolds for other teachers to implement in a quasi-experimental pilot study in a subsequent phase of the project. Though the design teachers ranged from early- to mid- career, all teachers taught world history in Title I schools and expressed an interest and commitment to classroom discussion. Teachers were placed in three design teams and data sources include artifacts (e.g., transcripts, notes, exit tickets, outputs) from two multi-day workshops and weekly planning sessions, as well as iterated lessons. Teachers were strongly encouraged to design lessons using the curricular resources already on the site.

Findings
Constrained by the tools at their disposal (e.g., the preexisting online curriculum), the scheduling of the design workshops, the challenge of translating situated design choices for an online curricular portal, and the broader structural constraints of schooling, teachers nonetheless found the object of designing for unknown others meaningful and motivating. Their collective activity was characterized by: (a) empathy and concern for hypothetical future-users of their materials; (b) cognizance and meta-reflection on the myriad instructional decisions during enactment and how they tailor these to their local context; (c) awareness of their own learning and growth in discussion facilitation through the process; (d) deepening respect for one another and the development of professional community.

Significance
Whereas professional development research is rife with examples of teachers designing lessons for themselves (Goldman, et al., 2022), and research on project-based learning for students has long championed the educative value of designing for others (Hmelo-Silver, et al., 2018), designing-for-others has yet to be incorporated widely in teacher professional development. Findings from this project suggest that the value of engaging teachers in such work collectively may override the inherent constraints of the activity.

Authors

• Abby Reisman, University of Pennsylvania

• Angela Marie Hardy, Digital Promise

• Shelton Daal, Digital Promise

• Emi Iwatani, Digital Promise