"Kindred in Understanding": Teachers' Learning and Collaboration During a Summer Media Production Program

• In Event: Teacher Learning: Belonging, Becoming, and Believing

Abstract

While there is significant research on teaching and learning in out-of-school contexts, less research explores the ways K-12 in-school teachers build their own knowledge through collaboration with fellow instructors while teaching in out-of-school settings. We ask, how did K-12 teachers describe their teaching and learning processes during a summer out-of-school youth program? We found two elements of the teachers’ work as critical to their efforts: (1) their “kindred understanding" and mutual support of one another, and (2) a flexible approach to curriculum design that started with the youth’s interests and goals. Through collaborative narrative inquiry, we discovered ways that interest-driven and socially-embedded learning contexts naturally open up space for learners and teachers to share their lives and explore their experiences.

Authors

• Kira J. Baker-Doyle, University of Illinois at Chicago

• Patricia Delacruz, Evanston Township High School

• Kylie Holcomb

• Mary Rose O'Shea, Chicago Public Schools

• Nathan C. Phillips, University of Illinois at Chicago

• Kristine M. Schutz, University of Illinois at Chicago

• Nevien Shaabneh, District 230

• Joy Valentine, University of Illinois at Chicago

• Andrea Vaughan, University of Illinois at Chicago

• Rebecca Woodard, University of Illinois at Chicago