Expansion and Contraction: The Structure Conversational Sense-Making Around Equity in Higher Education Teaching

• In Event: Faculty Development and Learning

Abstract

This article reports on a study examining how members of an equity focused community of practice (CoP) at a predominantly white institution in the United States co-constructed meaning around issues of equity. Using discourse analysis of audio-recorded transcripts of three hour-long CoP sessions, analysis revealed a common pattern to the conversation, as members of the community made sense of abstract ideas related to equity by linking them to concrete experiences in their higher education classrooms, faculty meetings, and other experiences within academia. Findings also demonstrate that questions, both rhetorical and specific, were key in this sense-making process. Analysis indicates that CoPs, which are situated in the relational practices within an institution, are well-suited for furthering equity-based work at universities.

Authors

• Rebecca Buchanan, University of Maine

• Liliana Herakova, University of Maine

• Leah Hakkola, University of Maine at Orono

• Mollie Ruben