Attuning to the Vibes of Learning Ecologies: Toward Developing Intuitive Educators

• In Event: It’s a Whole Vibe!: Exploring Agency, Labor, and Power in the Felt Dimensions of Learning

Abstract

The term “vibe” refers to a distinctive feeling or quality capable of being sensed (Merriam-Webster, 2024). This paper examines how adolescent after-school educators in a tinkering program attuned to the vibes of their learning ecology to develop, iterate, and transform their pedagogical approaches with students. We specifically focus on how these educators made sense of the emotions, aesthetics, and artifacts that mediated learning and relationship-building in the tinkering program. The paper examines the following research questions:
What elements do tinkering after-school educators identify as contributing to the vibes within their learning ecology?
How do after-school educators' reflections on the vibes of their learning ecology inform the development of their pedagogical approaches with students?
Vygotsky’s concept of perezhivanie offers a useful lens for understanding "vibes" and their role in learning and development. Perezhivanie refers to the emotional experiences from a child’s interaction with their environment that shape cognitive and developmental outcomes (Vygotsky, 1994a). Recently, scholars have increasingly focused on the importance of attuning to the affective experiences of youth, recognizing that emotions are inseparable from the epistemic processes of learning for both educators and students (Vossoughi et. al, 2020; Jaber, 2015). Following these lines of inquiry, this paper examines how a “vibe” is felt and mutually constructed by youth and adults to create the atmosphere of a learning ecology. We argue that attention to the ephemera of a learning ecology holds potential as a source of pedagogical insight and development.
We draw on ethnographic data gathered through participant observation from the daily practices and mentorship of high school facilitators working in an after-school tinkering program. Journal entries, interviews, and audio recordings of weekly debrief sessions make up the primary data sources. The lead educators and researchers in the program guided debrief discussions following each full day of program in order to support the facilitators’ growth as young educators and to collectively construct familiarity with the progress and wellbeing of the students in the program.


We found that after-school educators used everyday terms such as vibes, feelings, and onda to describe the overall tinkering work-flow that students experienced. The vibes of the learning ecology became part of their sense-making repertoires as they reflected on their own pedagogical interactions with students. As these young educators developed an attunement to the pedagogical approaches necessary to support students with their development of creative projects, reflecting on social and affective factors supported their process of becoming what we call “intuitive educators.” As intuitive educators, they deepened their awareness of the impact vibes have on learning and developed new pedagogical approaches to relate to students and reorganize the program’s learning ecology.


This study has implications for how teachers and educators may build attunement to the intangibles of learning ecologies. We propose that learning how to attune to the subjectivity of vibes that emerge and built into learning ecologies can become a valuable practice for equitable teaching and learning. We also discuss how attunement to vibes can reveal the racial and gendered dynamics of a learning ecology.

Authors

• Meg Elena Escudé, University of California - Berkeley

• Edward Rivero, Teachers College, Columbia University