Matching Items (2)
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- All Subjects: Community Of Practice
- Creators: Dorn, Sherman
Description
The purpose of this action research was to work with Brazilian trained educators in a Community of Practice (CoP) to explore how teachers collectively define and talk about critical thinking (CT). The research also examined how past teaching experiences shaped their attitudes toward emphasizing CT in teaching. In addition, the research studied how participation in a CoP focused on CT changed classroom planning. The study is grounded in Community of Practice and Social Constructivism. As an international school, this study examined related research conducted in Jordan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Pakistan. This qualitative action research was 12 weeks in length with six participants who were all from Brazil and worked at a private bilingual international secondary school. Participants completed an initial interview and final interview. They also completed online journals, which were assembled weekly for 45 minutes, and maximized their efforts constructing a unit plan utilizing the Understanding by Design method. The results of the study describe the teachers’ definition of critical thinking, and also present an understanding of how the CoP shaped their attitudes. This, in turn, resulted in members’ updated classroom planning, which was due to participation in the cohort. Further issues and credibility, contextualization, and transferability as well as researcher positionality were discussed.
ContributorsJaramillo, Kevin Lee (Author) / Dorn, Sherman (Thesis advisor) / Fischman, Gustavo (Committee member) / Buss, Ray (Committee member) / Johnston, Michael (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2019
Description
The pandemic has not only increased economic inequities within variouscommunities, but it has also exacerbated the social, emotional, and math achievement
inequities of middle school students, creating an environment that increases the potential
for heightened anxiety and peer conflict. Now, more than ever, it is imperative that
educators not only understand the existence and impact of these social and emotional
inequities but have the knowledge and skills to effectively address them. Within this
study, I facilitated a 10-week online community of practice with three middle school
math teachers, entitled The More than Math Collective (MTMC), with the purpose of
improving participant self-efficacy with SEL, developing their professional capital,
discussing various strategies to address the social and emotional skill needs of students in
their classrooms, and providing time for implementation of the discussed strategies. At
the conclusion of the study, most participants reported an increase in self-efficacy, human
capital, and decisional capital while only one out of three participants reported an
increase in social capital. All participants described a positive impact on their students
and their professional growth due to their participation in the MTMC and the various
strategies that were learned and implemented in their classrooms. Given the small sample
size, more research can be done to determine if the results of this study may be
transferable to other educational settings.
ContributorsNorcini, Erica (Author) / Dorn, Sherman (Thesis advisor) / Firetto, Carla (Committee member) / Grant, Cara (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2023