Reframing history and listening to students through Learning Labs professional development
Social Studies Research and Practice
ISSN: 1933-5415
Article publication date: 13 September 2023
Issue publication date: 28 November 2023
Abstract
Purpose
This practice-oriented article aims to describe the origins of the Learning Labs PD model and theory behind it, explains what it involves in social studies and illustrates this model by sharing examples from one PD session focused on facilitating inquiries into justice via Hammurabi's Code and Black Founders with seventh and eighth graders.
Design/methodology/approach
As the authors developed Learning Labs for Social Studies (LLSS), they used a Design-Based Research approach to study and iterate such that the model is supportive of teachers' and students' learning (e.g. Jennings et al., 2022). In this practice-oriented article, the authors offer a conceptual orientation to the model and some of the take-aways relevant to the demands of offering professional development in polarizing times by sharing examples from one PD day.
Findings
LLSS PD in combination with curriculum that structures critical inquiry has supported the authors and their teacher-partners by fostering a community of practitioners who work as a collective to reframe content, support one another while teaching in new ways and learn from students. Specifically, the authors have observed teachers (1) approach social studies topics with greater criticality and center Black identity and history as more than oppression, (2) develop instructional practices that create space for students to make sense of the past in the context of their lives in the present and (3) listen to and center students' thinking and knowledge.
Originality/value
This article presents and illustrates Learning Labs for Social Studies for the first time, offering a professional learning model that supports teachers in polarizing times as they work collaboratively to translate theory into practice and to problem-solve challenges that emerge within their school and classroom contexts.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
This manuscript was written exclusively for Social Studies Research and Practice. It has not been submitted or published elsewhere. This work was supported by the Library of Congress [grant number F044818-083071 titled “Using our Nation's Library to Teach Writing with Primary Sources to All Students”] and the James S. McDonnell Foundation [grant number N024655-389313 titled “Teachers learning to facilitate communication and reasoning through inquiry with history and social science sources”].
Citation
Monte-Sano, C., Jennings, A. and Schleppegrell, M.J. (2023), "Reframing history and listening to students through Learning Labs professional development", Social Studies Research and Practice, Vol. 18 No. 2, pp. 121-136. https://doi.org/10.1108/SSRP-01-2023-0006
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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