Equitable Classroom Discussions through Open Education Primary Source Learning Routines

• In Event: The SCOPE of Open Education Research

Abstract

Objectives This research examined teacher use of open education resource (OER) curriculum to facilitate equitable academic discussions during primary source learning routines in 30 urban high school United States history classes. We examined how teachers used OER materials to engage students in critical thinking and critical analysis. We explored the extent that secondary students reported feeling heard and affirmed when using OER primary source discussion routines. Finally, we examined student and teacher perceptions of learning history and social justice pre-post OER units examining historical barriers to literacy.

Theoretical framework Muhammad’s (2020) Historical Responsive Literacy framework provided a vehicle to support teachers in critical examination of teaching practices and facilitating class discussions aimed at developing student criticality. Muhammad’s four questions focused on identity, skills, intellect, and criticality guided survey construction and analysis. In addition, the Social justice, Cost, Outcomes, Perceptions, and Engagement (SCOPE, Clinton-Lisell et al., 2023) as a priori codes to analyze classroom observations and open ended survey responses.

Methods Thirty United States history, social studies teachers volunteered to participate in this 9 -month study, including three full day professional developments, pre-post student and teacher surveys, and three classroom observations. All measurement tools were developed by the researchers. Teachers and their students completed pre-post surveys, including 12 Likert scale items and 3 open ended questions exploring perceptions of the purpose of learning history and use toward social justice. Students also completed a survey at the end of each classroom observation estimating the amount they felt student voices were heard and affirmed through class discussions. Student responses to the thinking routine, “I started thinking, then I thought, so next I will…” were used to measure student learning. Student responses were anonymous and were reported in aggregate. Three classroom observations conducted by the researchers scored OER primary source routine implementation accuracy, criticality, and equity on a 1-5 rubric. Qualitative analysis employed grounded theory approach with double coding.

Results Observation data showed that all teachers implemented the OER materials with no adaptations and shared OER materials as supports for students. Although teachers valued the deeper learning framework, no teachers used the framework during observations. Survey data suggests that on average, students reported increased feelings, over time, of being heard and affirmed for themselves and their peers. There were no pre-post changes in teacher or student perception of the purpose and use of history learning.

Significance Each year, more than 75,000 unique visitors view the OER Social Studies curriculum. With that scale, OER curricula provide a strong lever for shaping teaching. The curriculum focused on social justice, the SCOPE framework was used to analyze observation data to illuminate the time, effort, and emotional cost in prompting student thinking and criticality during classroom discussion that may have prohibited change. Future studies may further examine how P-12 students feel about learning with OER materials and how OER can support teacher facilitation of equitable peer discussions to reduce perceived costs. OER may focus on reducing implementation costs by providing greater implementation support materials.

Author

• Rhonda Suzanne Bondie, Hunter College - CUNY