Value Judgments: How Faculty Career Stage Influences One's Propensity for Double-Loop Learning at Work

• In Event: Teachers' Beliefs, Perceptions, and Definitions of Key Aspects of Teaching

Abstract

While research shows that teachers’ values are the foundation of their beliefs and assumptions about students, we know much less about how values influence teachers’ propensities for questioning their own beliefs and double-checking their assumptions across various stages of their careers. This propensity for double-loop learning (Argyris, 1976) is especially important for teachers working with students from minoritized communities. Through interviews with faculty teaching in a large urban university, I explore how participants’ strategies for enacting values associated with double-loop learning varies by career stage. I find that while early career faculty primarily espoused values associated with double-loop learning, more experienced faculty espoused values that prohibited them from exploring the implicit beliefs and assumptions guiding their responses to student challenges.

Author

• Tiffany Brown, University of Connecticut