Education Commons^™

Shift Happens! Clashing Ais In Higher Education And The Unexpected Implications Of Restriction And Implementation, Carol A. Bruzzano

The Vermont Connection

The AI-AI conflict in higher education, artificial intelligence and academic integrity, led to a frenzy of policy and curricula changes throughout the 2022-2023 academic year. Yet, the impacts of restrictions and implementations on marginalized populations were not immediate concerns. Students with disabilities and others considered marginalized and underprepared may have the most to lose without careful considerations of the implications of restriction and implementation. Identifying evidence-based best practices for next steps in AI integration that support students' learning and avoid the biases of emerging applications may provide the safest path forward for evolving teaching and student advising in higher education …

Three Rs For Middle Level Education: The 2022 Ncpomle John Vanhoose Lecture, David C. Virtue

Middle Grades Review

The author contends the most prominent challenges and conditions facing middle level education now and in the near future point to three imperatives for the field: middle level education must be relevant, resilient, and robust. After conceptualizing the field of middle level education as an interdisciplinary, applied field of study concerned with the formal education of young adolescent learners in school settings, the author discusses each of the three imperatives and provides recommendations for scholars to move forward alongside professionals in middle level schools and classrooms to achieve a bright educational future for young adolescents.

Are Students' Basic Psychological Needs Fulfilled In Remote Learning Environments?: A Mixed Methods Study, Lindsay M. Griendling, Victoria J. Vanuitert, Sean D. Mcdonald

Middle Grades Review

Self-determination theory (SDT) posits that three basic psychological needs (i.e., autonomy, competence, and relatedness) must be fulfilled to promote positive outcomes among individuals participating in social environments. Teachers can provide supports to fulfill these needs within classroom environments to help them become autonomously motivated to engage in tasks and activities. Unfortunately, school closures and the shift to remote learning during the COVID-19 pandemic may have challenged teachers’ ability to create need-supportive classroom environments due to issues such as reliable access to technology, teacher preparedness in facilitating remote learning, and negative impacts to mental health and well-being. However, the extent to …

Place-Based Education As Liberatory Praxis, Todd C. Cooley

The Vermont Connection

Indigenous students are severely underrepresented in higher education, and in STEM disciplines in particular. There is a lack of research critiquing the hegemonic culture of STEM programs in the United States that may present challenges to students pursuing these degrees from Indigenous communities. Using Tribal Critical Race Theory and Native Student Identity Development Theory, I examine the ways in which STEM programs throughout the United States harms and excludes Indigenous students, and seek to uncover ways that we can build Engineering departments which are more inclusive of varying worldviews, with a particular emphasis on Indigenous epistemologies. Specifically, I offer Place-Based …

Integrating School Makerspaces Into The English Language Arts Curriculum, Lou Lahana

Middle Grades Review

School Makerspaces have shown great potential to foster powerful learning outcomes for students, including the enhancement of creative problem-solving abilities, the nurturing of “soft skills” such as grit and leadership, as well as deep STEAM knowledge development. Within the school context, however, little attention has been given to how Makerspaces can promote social activism. Students hold passionate views on issues, such as homelessness, e-cigarette smoking, domestic violence, plastic pollution, and street harassment. How can Makerspaces provide an environment that promotes personal learning and self-expression so that these passions take form as social activism?

This practitioner perspective details the implementation of …

Afro-Brazilian Cosmology As Praxis For Student Affairs, Catarina E. Campbell

The Vermont Connection

In this article, one will find a friendly introduction to several orixás, the archetypal forces of nature in Yoruban and Afro-Brazilian cosmology, in order to explore the applicability of their teachings within the realm of student affairs. With each orixá comes a teaching story, series of reflection questions, and a tangible pedagogical practice. When employed with reverence to their origin and context, these tools can catalyze self-development, sense of purpose, and breadth of perspective for both for our students and ourselves.

Toward A Critical-Pbl: Centering A Critical Consciousness In The Middle Grades, Jaclyn Caires-Hurley, Margarita Jimenez-Silva, Rachel Harrington

Middle Grades Review

The dual pandemic of 2020 that includes racism and COVID-19 demonstrates the need for students to become socially responsible and critically conscious world citizens. Students in the middle grades are developing their sense of identity while concomitantly trying to understand the complex world around them. While many teachers understand the need for critical pedagogy, many still struggle to find time to teach rigorous content standards while integrating social justice education. In this article, we propose the four pillars of Critical-Problem Based Learning (Critical-PBL). Using critical standards, critical problems, critical content, and critical discourse, we offer a framework to support teachers …

Fighting Back Against Anti-Asian Xenophobia: Addressing Global Issues In A Distance Learning Classroom, Dara Nix-Stevenson, Laura Shelton, Jennifer Smith

Middle Grades Review

This practitioner essay will outline a project designed by a team of three critical educators at The Experiential School of Greensboro (TESG), a new grassroots charter school in Greensboro, North Carolina. In this essay, we will describe the social context of TESG, discuss how we built towards addressing complicated topics related to systemic racism, and outline the ways we addressed anti-Asian racism and xenophobia in a remote learning context during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Learning Locally, Understanding Globally, Amy B. Demarest

Middle Grades Review

No abstract provided.

“Making The Unusual Usual:” Students’ Perspectives And Experiences Of Learning At Home During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Mary Beth Schaefer, Sandra Schamroth Abrams, Molly Kurpis, Madeline Abrams, Charlotte Abrams

Middle Grades Review

This child-parent research is a student-led inquiry into three adolescent girls’ experiences of learning during the age of COVID-19 shelter-in-place mandate. In this collaborative autoethnography, a research team of five (three adolescent researchers—two of whom are sisters—and their respective mothers) met via videoconference to engage in five rounds of inductive and deductive data collection and analyses. Findings capture the three adolescents’ experiences of new teaching methods in new learning spaces: (1) the physical space of “Doing School at Home-How it feels;” (2) the negotiations undertaken by the girls called “Improvisation and a School Mindset;” and (3) the need to respond …

Walking The Talk: Promoting Middle School Philosophy By Embracing Student Voices, Rick Marlatt

Middle Grades Review

This practitioner perspective responds to recent scholarship calling for reinvigorating middle level education by suggesting that the purposeful inclusion of student voices in collaborative learning activities can help educators champion the academic and social growth of early adolescents. The recent practicum experience of a preservice candidate who prioritized the voices of her students illustrates the promotion of democratic education, innovation, and social justice in middle level education.

Southern Disclosure: One Southern-And-Queer Middle School Teacher’S Narrative, Jonathan M. Coker, Leia K. Cain

Middle Grades Review

This narrative inquiry is an autoethnographical account of one queer-identified middle school teacher's career trajectory in the southern United States, and his struggle to navigate disclosure of his identity to students. Using a qualitative lens, the authors provide reasoning for the importance of middle school educators to have the ability to disclose their identities to students in order to cultivate an environment that is receptive to LGBTQ+ adolescents.

The Promise Of Character Education In Middle School: A Meta-Analysis, Calvary R. Diggs, Patrick Akos

Middle Grades Review

Early adolescence is a developmental stage characterized by changes in reasoning, social cognition, and desire for autonomy in youth aged 11-14 (or grades 6-8). This period is also associated with heightened impulsivity and risk-taking that has been linked to school-related challenges such as antisocial behaviors and declining grades. Character education, a particular brand of social-emotional practice, has been promulgated as a developmentally responsive program that can promote prosocial behavior and academic success by building upon existing developmental strengths. However, research findings to date are primarily informed by elementary school program outcomes. Due to this limitation, a meta-analytic review of recent …