Education Commons^™

Valuing Lived Experience In Academic Spaces, Jules Csillag

Social Justice Week

Academic spaces (K–12 or higher education) often place a great value on supposedly evidence-based practices, but this ignores the fact that traditional research doesn’t always reflect the priorities nor the realities of the populations they’re supposedly supporting. This results in the perpetuation of harmful practices that are directly or indirectly caused by racism, ableism, classism, queer- and trans-antagonism, monodialectalism/monolingualism, etc. In everything from accommodations statements to who appears in your syllabi or curricula (and more importantly- who’s notably missing), educators at all levels have a responsibility to listen to people with relevant lived experience, and legitimize that expertise.

This engaging …

Motivation In The Mathematics Classroom, Evan Thornton-Kolbe

Honors Theses

Mathematics has always seemed to be an unpopular subject amongst primary and secondary students in the United States. This project seeks to identify the roots of these attitudes and examine them in ways that allow for personal reflection, community building, and student advocacy. An individual’s access to educational resources and equitable treatment play a large role in shaping their mathematics learning identity. This topic was examined via traditional research methods for the written paper portion and also includes a set of lesson plans for teachers to use. These lesson plans utilize the ideas discussed in the paper portion to provide …

How Can Libraries Move Towards A More Inclusive Model Of Reference? A Practical Approach To Serve Distance Students, Lauren Puzier, Camille Chesley, Amanda M. Lowe

University Libraries Faculty Scholarship

Research consultations are a valuable service offered by academic libraries for students who are able to visit the library, however, many students enrolled in online degree programs or considering enrollment have limited access to campus services. We designed and tested a virtual reference consultation service for distance learners and graduate students. This interactive poster outlines a practical approach for designing and initiating a virtual research consultation service to offer equitable access to library services and a positive user experience for distance learners.

Are The Rights Of Children In Conflict With The Rights And Entitlements Of School Teachers?, Vimala Ramachandran

Teacher India

Unfavourable treatment and discrimination continue to dominate Indian classrooms. This article describes on-ground realities and systemic challenges of school education in India.

Unpacking "Giftedness": Research And Strategies For Promoting Racial And Socioeconomic Equity, David B. Naff, Genevieve Siegel-Hawley, Amy Jefferson, Michael Schad, Morgan Saxby, Kathryn Haines, Zoey Lu

MERC Publications

Giftedness as a construct continues to be contested in academia, in the classroom and around kitchen tables. It means different things to different communities and, as a result, acquiring the "gifted" label looks different around the country. Once labeled, student giftedness produces different responses depending on state and district guidelines. A constant among the patchwork of defining, identifying and responding to student giftedness, though, is a serious racial and economic disparity in who is considered gifted and who is not. This report provides key takeaways from research literature on gifted and talented (GT) programs. It is organized according to five …