Education Commons^™

Using Inquiry-Based Teaching And Kids Inquiry Conferences To Strengthen Elementary Science Instruction And To Encourage More Students To Pursue Science Careers, Paula A. Magee, Ryan Flessner

Ryan Flessner

For the past 20 years, there has been a push to improve the teaching and learning of science in elementary schools. One strong reason for this was the release of the National Science Education Standards (NRC 1996). The Standards articulated not only what K-12 students should know (science content standards), but also how science teachers needed to teach (teaching standards) and be continuously supported (professional development standards). The Standards also considered ways to support inquiry-based and meaningful science learning for K-12 students (program and system standards). According to the NRC, one ot:·the four reasons underpinning all of this is because …

Making The Work Interesting: Classroom Management Through Ownership In Elementary Literature Circles, Ryan Flessner

Ryan Flessner

Ryan Flessner's contribution to "Breaking the Mold of Classroom Management: What Educators Should Know and Do to Enable Student Success".

Tying It All Together: Implications For Classrooms, Schools, And Districts, Ryan Flessner, Kenneth Zeichner, Kalani Eggington

Ryan Flessner

Ryan Flessner, Kenneth Zeichner, and Kalani Eggington's contribution to "Creating Equitable Classrooms through Action Research"

Addressing The Research/Practice Divide In Teacher Education, Ryan Flessner

Ryan Flessner

Educational scholars often describe a research/practice divide. Similarly, students in teacher education programs often struggle to navigate the differences between university coursework and expectations they face in field-based placements. This self-study analyzes one researcher's attempt to address the research/practice divide from the position of a teacher educator. Teaching in a university-based mathematics methods course during the academic year and an elementary classroom during the summer recess provided opportunities to make connections between research and practice. This article examines the effects this study had on the researcher's instruction at the university level. Specifically, the article suggests ways for teacher educators to …

Book Review: Transforming Teacher Education: Reflections From The Field, Ryan Flessner

Ryan Flessner

Book review of: Transforming teacher education: Reflections from the field D. Carroll, H. Featherstone, J. Featherstone, S. Feiman‐Nemser and D. Roosevelt (Eds), 2007 Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press 266 pp. ISBN 978‐1‐8917‐9233‐5

Easing Into The Academy: Using Technology To Foster Cross-Institutional Critical Friendships, Ryan Flessner, Julie Horwitz

Ryan Flessner

This article addresses the ways in which early career teacher educators can support each other as they enter the academic community. By utilizing technology as an instrument to engage in a cross-country critical friendship, the authors were able to engage in a dialogue that grew out of mutual interests and concerns. Through critical reflection, they were able to address the question: How can we, two early-career teacher educators, push ourselves and one another to more critically examine our teaching practices? In doing so, each “new educator” grew more confident in claiming one's voice as a sustainable critical friendship emerged.

Agency Through Teacher Education: Reflection, Community, And Learning, Ryan Flessner, Grant Miller, Kami Patrizio, Julie Horwitz

Ryan Flessner

Agency through Teacher Education: Reflection, Community, and Learning addresses the ways that agency functions for those involved in twenty-first-century teacher education. This book, commissioned by the Association of Teacher Educators, relies on the voices of teacher education candidates, in-service teachers, school leaders, and university-based educators to illustrate what agency looks like, sounds like, and feels like for people trying to act as agents of change. These examples take the form of narratives, theoretical explorations, formal research studies, and reflective essays. Agency through Teacher Education does not seek to establish one definition for agency, but rather to conceptualize it from three …

Politics And Action Research: An Examination Of One School’S Mandated Action Research Program, Ryan Flessner, Shanna Stuckey

Ryan Flessner

Action research has been shown to empower educators, create lasting changes in schools, and have an impact on student learning outcomes. Given these positive results, many school leaders are beginning to mandate the use of action research within their schools. While some in the field have warned against mandating action research, there is little research examining the effects of doing so. This study examines the mandated school-wide action research program at Fieldstone Elementary. While some results align with the action research literature (importance of collaboration, necessity of time to conduct action research, etc.), this article also examines the political tensions …

Five Strategies To Support All Teachers: Suggestions To Get Off The Slippery Slope Of "Cookbook" Science Teaching, Paula A. Magee, Ryan Flessner

Ryan Flessner

Many teachers shudder at the thought of implementing an inquiry curriculum. Perhaps they envision a rowdy classroom with little learning. Maybe they wonder, "How will this connect to all the standards?" Fortunately, these legitimate concerns can be addressed, and all students can engage in thoughtfully constructed inquiry science experiences. In this article, we outline five strategies that we have used with elementary school teachers as they moved from a "cookbook" approach in science to an approach that is inquiry-based. Having presented these five strategies in a linear format, we know that on the surface this may seem close to the …

Creating Equitable Classrooms Through Action Research, Cathy Caro-Bruce, Ryan Flessner, M. Klehr, K. Zeichner

Ryan Flessner

Despite the best intentions of reform efforts, educational inequity continues to exist in public schools. Creating Equitable Classrooms Through Action Research confronts this challenge head-on and shows educators how they can use action research confronts this challenge head-on and shows educators how they can use action research to both raise student achievement and strengthen instruction leadership. Ideal for both a first-time action research endeavor or one already in progress, this practical guidebook helps practitioners formulate specific research questions, collect and analyze data, and communicate their findings. Invaluable for school district leaders, teachers, professional development schools, and preservice teachers, this resource …

Understanding Community Voices As A Force In Teacher Education, Ryan Flessner, Paula A. Magee

Ryan Flessner

Ryan Flessner and Paula Magee's contribution to "Flessner, R., Miller, G. R., Patrizio, K. M., & Horwitz, J. R. (Eds.). (2012). Agency through teacher education: Reflection, community, and learning. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Education."

Working Toward A Third Space In The Teaching Of Elementary Mathematics, Ryan Flessner

Ryan Flessner

Building on work in the area of third space theory, this study documents one teacher’s efforts to create third spaces in an elementary mathematics classroom. In an attempt to link the worlds of theory and practice, I examine how the work of other theorists and researchers – inside and outside the field of education – can create new lenses for classroom practitioners. In addition, the article provides evidence that third spaces may be more difficult to realize than others have described. Rather than forcing a third space to emerge, what this study finds more important is creating an environment that …

Book Review: Talking Diversity With Teachers And Teacher Educators, Ryan Flessner, Susan C. Adamson

Ryan Flessner

Book review of "Cruz, B., Ellerbrock, C. R., Vásquez, A., & Howes, E. V. (2014). Talking diversity with teachers and teacher educators: Exercises and critical conversations across the curriculum." by Ryan Flessner and Susan C. Adamson.

Collaborating To Improve Inquiry-Based Teaching In Elementary Science And Mathematics Methods Courses, Paula A. Magee, Ryan Flessner

Ryan Flessner

This study examines the effect of promoting inquiry-based teaching (IBT) through collaboration between a science methods course and mathematics methods course in an elementary teacher education program. During the collaboration, preservice elementary teacher (PST) candidates experienced 3 different types of inquiry as a way to foster increased understanding of inquiry based teaching (IBT). The experiences included a PST driven science inquiry and a mathematics inquiry where PSTs were learners and a science inquiry where PSTs were teachers. During and following the semester of the collaboration, data were collected to assess the impact of the inquiry experiences on the PSTs’ understanding …

Reggio Emilia Approach, Ena Shelley, Ryan Flessner

Ryan Flessner

Article in Ainsworth, James, ed. Sociology of Education: An A-to-Z Guide. Thousand Oaks, US: SAGE Publications, Inc, 2013.

Revisiting Reflection: Utilizing Third Spaces In Teacher Education, Ryan Flessner

Ryan Flessner

Much has been written about the importance of reflective practice. What is missing is reflective work on the part of teacher educators to address the mismatch between university-based methods courses and the realities of classroom life. With examples from a third grade mathematics classroom as well as a university-based mathematics methods course, this article explores ways educators can employ third space theory as a way to engage in purposeful reflection into their teaching practices.

Pushing The Field Of Practitioner Research: Utilizing ‘Reflective Third Spaces’ To Explore Educational Practice, Ryan Flessner

Ryan Flessner

For decades, literature in the field of education has been rife with descriptions of the divides between theory and practice, research and implementation, and universities and public schools. Beginning with an examination of these divides, this chapter explores the ways that teacher educators can capitalize on their positioning in order to better understand educational practice. Following a brief introduction, an examination of third space theory and its usefulness to teacher educators— especially those engaged in practitioner research— ensues. Building on the work of early theorists in fields such as literature and cultural geography, third space theory has typically been used …

Have A Kids Inquiry Conference: Putting A Twist On The Typical Science Fair, Paula Magee, Ryan Flessner

Ryan Flessner

In school, the traditional format for the formal sharing of science experiences has been the science fair. Although the format of science fairs may vary, the usual components consist of a step-by-step experimental process that students follow as they test different variables, construct a hypothesis, and collect data to support or disprove their hypothesis. Usually the science fair is conducted as a competitive event at which prizes are awarded for the "best" examples. Unfortunately, this type of science event has little connection to the real sharing that scientists do regularly.

The National Science Education Standards (NSES) call for an approach …