Collaboratively Constructing Quality Teaching: Involving School Stakeholders in Defining the Possibilities of Schooling

• In Event: Friday Roundtable Session 4:55 pm
  In Roundtable Session: Empowering Educators (Table 34)

Abstract

Drawing upon principles of participatory action research, this study collected input from secondary school stakeholders (teachers, students, caregivers, alumni, staff, and administrators) to create a local definition of quality teaching for students at an urban charter school in the northeastern United States. Analysis of stakeholder input produced four themes, reflecting participants’ views of quality teaching: support for students’ individual differences, flexible learning structures, development of knowledge about students to engage and build relationships, and development and use of professional knowledge. The resulting definition of quality teaching partially overlaps with the principles of culturally sustaining pedagogy (Paris, 2012), while the project represents a possibility for engaging school stakeholders in solidarity-driven codesign (Ishimaru et al., 2018), even within institutional restrictions.

Author

• Susan Chenelle, University Academy Charter High School