Exploring the “Co-”Ness of Group Teaching: Distributed Authority and Collective Responsibility in Youth Pedagogical Development

• In Event: Centering Community in Teacher Practice

Abstract

When youth are positioned as co-teachers and co-facilitators in near-peer group teaching settings, they develop a sense of collective responsibility for the youth that they teach, depending on how authority is distributed in the group teaching setting. Our paper seeks to further explicate distributed authority and collective responsibility, one of the tenets of Youth Pedagogical Development. Specifically in this study, we elaborate on ways in which authority is distributed and responsibility is shared at our three partnering organizations where young people learn to teach other young people in mathematics, engineering, fabrication, and social justice settings. We also explore how youth co-teachers and co-facilitators who are not leading the main activity take up various roles during group teaching.

Authors

• Eli Tucker-Raymond, Boston University

• Xi CiCi Yu, Boston University

• Juan Miguel Gutierrez, Boston University

• Katherine K. Frankel, Boston University

• Maria C. Olivares, Boston University

• Ashley Houston-King, Boston University

• Clifford Freeman, Boston University

• Perpetua Djamency Wisvens Saintine, Boston University

• Arianna M Gaston, The Young People's Project