In the middle of student teaching at the moment, and I'm looking for some theory or books or talks or something from forward thinking sources. Noticing a lot of antiquated methods. I don't agree with them but I don't have the theory to put it into words or think of new methods.
Anyone have any suggestions? Particularly in the use of rubrics or assessments/grading.
Thanks in advance
Edit: I made a few typos!
Hey! I’m in a doctorate program for education.
Are you looking for theories to support your use of specific modes of assessment/grading practices or just umbrella theories on grading, rubrics, and assessments?
Overall, I think sociocultural theorists are going to be heavy hitters for you if your stance on assessment is that standardized is harmful to students. John Dewey and Christine Sleeter are awesome reads on assessment and standardization. I also agree with everyone else that Freire is great. Another couple of books I’d recommend are “Literacy with an Attitude” by Patrick J. Finn, “Multiplication is for White People” by Lisa Delpit, “Stories Matter” by Fox and Short (Free PDF download below), “Literacy and Power” by Hilary Janks, and “Funds of Knowledge” by Gonzalez, Moll, and Amanti. All of these texts talk about the way that culture influences learning, and one can utilize these theories, ideologies, and pedagogies to argue for or against specific assessments, rubrics, or grading systems. Overall, the lenses that these texts embrace is that American Education privileges the white, male, hetero, upper-class learning methods and life experiences, and by omitting those learning methods and experiences of others, you are negating an entire platform of learning that is relevant to the rest of the world: lived experiences (aka lived literacies, funds of knowledge, cultural literacies). Furthermore, you can use these texts to argue for critical literacy pedagogies, culturally responsive pedagogies, and multicultural curriculum, all of which support culturally and linguistically diverse students in their engagement and success with traditional and non-traditional forms of assessment and grading.
So.... to summarize... theories that are going to be important to you:
- Sociocultural theory (think Vygotsky, Marx, Dewey, Lave and Wenger, and Sonia Nieto)
- Culturally Responsive Pedagogies (Gloria Ladson-Billings, Lucy Calkins, Rudine Sims Bishop or Rudine Sims)
- Multicultural Education (James Banks)
- Critical Race Theory (Delgado and Stefancic wrote a great book)
- Funds of Knowledge (this is a book that you can just search for)
I hope this didn’t overwhelm you, and was actually helpful. I’d be happy to answer any questions that you might have too! I love shop talk haha.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/234718213_Stories_Matter_The_Complexity_of_Cultural_Authenticity_in_Children's_Literature
Of course! Especially joining an education program later in your school career, you miss out on a lot of theory stuff. What antiquated theories are you learning about currently?
It's less learning about theories right now since I'm in student teaching, it's more the use of lecturing/rubrics/consistent assessment/etc that feels wrong.
I feel like it's an endless loop of kids "listening" to lectures, not retaining information, doing poorly on whatever quiz/test or doing well and not learning much. And then when FFA (intra curricular student organization within Ag), they have little autonomy or willingness to be creative.
Just feel like there's a better way/system but not sure how to articulate it.
Oh! Cooperative learning strategies! Read Lave and Wenger. They talk about social learning systems that work on a novice-expert relationship system. Then, Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal development is a classic read for this stuff. I would also recommend the use of Spencer Kagan’s Cooperative Learning structures.
Basically, learning is a social activity and the context in which you’re teaching is a lot of traditional methods. By embracing cooperative learning, you’re going back to that social learning piece. But, when teaching that way, Behavior Management systems, consistency, and clear expectations is KEY. Otherwise, it’s a free-for-all; the kids think it’s social hour. I would also argue that traditional tests are bullshit, and you should utilize open book/note exams because part of reading comprehension is being able to remember where on the page you found something. I would also recommend trying to incorporate research-based reading, writing, and learning strategies. You can find lists on the internet, use the website “Reading Rockets,” or consult most teaching textbooks.
Some strategies to look into (grade level dependent):
- Social Justice projects
- Problem-based research or inquiry
- Play-based Learning
- Gamified Learning
- Kagan Cooperative Learning Structures
- Socratic Seminar
- Flipped classrooms
If you give me more specific examples of the types of activities/content you’re trying to work with, I can give you specific strategies. I am a reading specialist/curriculum instructor by trade. This is my jam haha
Thanks for the great info! I totally agree with all your points.
Some context on where I'm at:
I teach mostly 9-12 agriculture with 7-8 exploratory agriculture once a day. Topics being taught now include natural resources, plant science, animal science, etc. Typical class looks like reading instructions for an activity from one of the larger curriculum resources (CASE if you're familiar at all) and completing this activity which could be a lab or a worksheet. Now CASE does a better job with experiential learning than some curriculum I've seen but it still seems monotonous and less participatory than I'd like.
School where I'm at for reference is 70% at-risk, mostly white. I forget what it's called but the 80-15-5 rule with interventions is pretty consistent but I feel like the engagement in my classes is lacking. I can't change a whole lot since I'm just student teaching, but I'll be full load here in a few weeks.
I'm also making a curriculum focused on agricultural communication for my creative component. Now, this is more lecture heavy (I don't know how else to teach AP style for example), but the assessments/activities are more authentic IMO. The main assessments are: news article, opinion article, audience analysis stuff, photoessay, video essay, podcast).
That all sounds so cool! I love that you’re incorporating multimodal writing (i.e. using video, audio, and visual modes of communicating). I think a problem-based project or social justice component would naturally fit VERY well into this structure and would be highly engaging for your students! That to me is where you’re project is leading. Kelly Gallagher is an author that would suit your teaching style really well (though he is for writing, specifically). With problem-based learning, you’re giving the kids a genre of topic (i.e. natural resources, plant science, animal science, etc), and then they look to see what problems they notice in their community. Then, they start to ask “why do those problems” exist, and they come up with solutions to them. This also wouldn’t be too outlandish to apply in a student teaching scenario. You can fit it in with the curriculum you’re using, but would just need to adapt the curriculum to be more community based, if that makes sense.
Thanks for the info and resources! I look forward to looking through all of this!
My field is agriculture. I don't know how familiar you are with this field, but there is much more autonomy for me as an educator (I have no set curriculum) and for students.
I'm trying to be as low stakes as possible but I don't want to entirely change everything my cooperating teacher is doing and I'm in rural Iowa so it's not like Marxist thought or analysis is something that is common here.
Thanks for the recommendations!
I have not! I'm relatively new to teaching methods as I switched majors late. Any specific books I can look into?
I am (only mildly) ashamed to admit that it's the only Freire I've read (though far and away the most impactful theory on me personally, hence the un).
My pedagogical experience is also almost entirely 1:1 too so I'm not gonna be a good source for other stuff.
@TankieDukakis - the intro to the 30th anniversary edition touches on a lot of the other scholars who worked with him, so that's where I'd go for further reading.
I'll ask my mom, she's a teacher and really progressive with her teaching methods
