Social Resources Supporting Teachers’ Design of Localized Curricula: Images of the Possible

• In Event: AERA Poster Session Sunday 7:45 am
  In Poster Session: Equitable Participation and Discourse in Science Teaching and Learning

Abstract

Science education scholars have called for curriculum materials that reflect relevance and coherence from the student perspective and support students to take local action. Teachers hold key knowledge about their students that can inform curriculum redesign toward these aims; however, designing such “localized” curricula may be challenging for teachers without adequate support. In this paper, I describe three cases of secondary science teachers engaged in a curriculum-based professional learning (CBPL) that supported teachers’ curriculum localization. I attend to how teachers used and valued social resources during curriculum design. Interviews with the teachers yielded insights into how each teacher uniquely leveraged social resources within and beyond the CBPL while developing localized units. This demonstrates the power of the CBPL design.

Author

• Monica Sircar, Stanford University