Critical reflexivity in the professional development of professional devlopers: A co-autoethnographic exploration

Poster (2018, January)

Reconstructing science education within the language I science relationship

in Tobin, Kenneth; Bryan, Lynn (Eds.) 13 Questions: Reframing Education's Conversation: Science (2018)

Our research is embedded in the multilingual national context of Luxembourg, a small diverse country in Western Europe, and as such our research participants are culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD ... [more ▼]

Our research is embedded in the multilingual national context of Luxembourg, a small diverse country in Western Europe, and as such our research participants are culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD). Luxembourg’s public schools reflect the diversity of the country, with 44% of students identifying as a nationality other than Luxembourgish, and 55% speaking a first language other than Luxembourgish (Ministère de l’éducation nationale, de l’Enfance et de la Jeunesse [MENJE], 2015). Certainly, students draw on a wide variety of resources as they make meaning in science, and a key resource in this process of meaning making is language, which serves to mediate learning as well as position participants in the learning process. However, for students with proficiencies in languages other than the ones used for instruction in schools (such as the students we work with), the nuances of how language(s) can serve as resource(s) for learning are crucial for researchers and teachers to consider and understand. Science, language, and learning are interwoven, connected, and we believe, inseparable, to the processes of science education. In this chapter we use a critical lens to deconstruct the use of language(s) in science education as we address the overarching question posted by the title of this section, “In what ways does language affect (and is affected by) the science educational process?” Throughout this process of deconstruction, we address several critical questions that arise from our research and lived experiences connected to Reconstructing Science Education within the Language | Science Relationship Reflections from Multilingual Contexts sara e. d. wilmes, christina siry, roberto gómez fernández, and anna maria gorges c h a p t e r n i n e t e e n 254 | sara e. d. wilmes et al. the relationship between science education and language. Specifically, we address the following interrelated questions: • Who decides which languages are used in classrooms? • How can we create classroom spaces that value diverse student resources? • What is the relationship between language used in science education, power, and agency? [less ▲]

The role of critical reflexivity in the professional development of professional developers: A co-authethnotaphic exploration

Presentation (2018)

Underscoring the value of video analysis in multilingual and multicultural classroom contexts

in Video Journal of Education and Pedagogy (2018), 3(4),

This article presents multiple episodes drawing from three distinct research projects conducted in multilingual classrooms in Luxembourg, to underscore the value of video analysis in culturally and ... [more ▼]

This article presents multiple episodes drawing from three distinct research projects conducted in multilingual classrooms in Luxembourg, to underscore the value of video analysis in culturally and linguistically diverse classroom contexts. We show how video analysis that valorizes the non-verbal in interaction has the ability to reveal communicative resources often masked by analysis rooted in the verbal. From the examples presented, that span teacher and student interactions in both elementary and secondary classrooms, we make a methodological argument based on analytical approaches utilized in all three research projects to demonstrate how we have come to an expanded notion of voice in our research that is revealed through multimodal video analysis. Specific analytical approaches that illuminate the embodied and multimodal aspects of voice are discussed. We conclude by underscoring the benefits of embodied and multimodal approaches to video analysis for research with all students, but most importantly for students often marginalized through analytical approaches that prioritize the verbal. Finally, we discuss the implications of video research that works to highlight resource-rich views of teaching and learning across learning contexts. [less ▲]

The science curriculum at the elementary level: What are the basics, and are we teaching them?

in Bryan, L.; Tobin, K. (Eds.) Thirteen questions for science education (2018)

Problematizing video analysis rooted in the verbal:Examples from culturally and linguistically diverse science classrooms in Luxembourg

Presentation (2017, June)

Multimodal Wonderings

Presentation (2017)

Interaction Rituals in Multilingual Student-Centered Science Instruction

Presentation (2017)

Examining children’s agency within participatory structures in primary science investigations

in Learning, Culture and Social Interaction (2016), 10

This research examines the use of participatory structures with children in a fourth grade classroom as they engage in an inquiry-based science unit. The dialectical relationship between structure and ... [more ▼]

This research examines the use of participatory structures with children in a fourth grade classroom as they engage in an inquiry-based science unit. The dialectical relationship between structure and agency is central to exploring these children's investigation, as children engaged in an investigation designed partly by themselves, in collaboration with their teachers and each other. We consider to what extent participatory structures mediated children's agency in science investigations. Using a combination of ethnographic and design experiment methods, we zoom in on a case study of one child and his collaborative activities with peers, to contextualize the process and underscore the claim that participatory structures created spaces for children to take agency in different ways. Specifically we demonstrate how open-ended structures and participatory curricular design mediated his agentic participation and also transformed the structures of the class, as teachers and students were positioned in new ways. [less ▲]

Radical listening and dialogue in educational research

in International Journal of Critical Pedagogy (2016), 7(3), 119-135

We seek to trouble the construct of radical listening through an interpretive analysis of our work in a collaborative research project with primary school teachers. At the heart of this project is a focus ... [more ▼]

We seek to trouble the construct of radical listening through an interpretive analysis of our work in a collaborative research project with primary school teachers. At the heart of this project is a focus on researching together with the study participants. During two years, we worked with a group of teachers in a “teacher inquiry group”, which sought to shed light on the possibilities of using narrative assessment approaches as an inclusive tool for teaching and learning science. The original goal of the study was to empower teachers to utilize a variety of dialogic assessment tools as tools for learning with their students. Through a guiding focus on radical listening and dialogue, the design of this overall study shifted and changed over time to fit the needs of the different stakeholders, and our focus on narrative assessment approaches also evolved over time. We will use different examples to illustrate the interactions of the teacher inquiry group, and also draw on our own work within our research group to complexify what it means to “listen”, learn from, and “dialogue” with others. [less ▲]