Designing for More Equitable Noticing: Creating and Refining Protocols to Support Preservice Teachers Noticing
Research at Alder Research Informing Our Work Home Designing for More Equitable Noticing: Creating and Refining Protocols to Support Preservice Teachers Noticing Designing for More Equitable Noticing: Creating and Refining Protocols to Support Preservice Teacher Noticing. Journal of Science Teacher Education, 1–21. https://doi.org/10.1080/1046560X.2025.2497197 Developing teacher noticing practices that foster equitable and inclusive learning environments is essential for K-12 science educators. However, there is limited research on how to support preservice teachers in cultivating these practices. This study investigates how intentionally designed noticing sessions shaped preservice teachers’ equitable noticing practices as they observed elementary students’ scientific explanations. Using a design-based research methodology, the study iteratively refined a noticing protocol implemented across three iterations in teacher preparation courses. The analysis focused on how preservice teachers’ attention to and interpretation of students’ ideas evolved across iterations. Findings indicate that preservice teachers’ noticing practices shifted from surface-level observations to more nuanced, asset-based interpretations that recognized students as producers of scientific knowledge. Protocol refinements, including targeted focus questions and structured small group discussions, supported preservice teachers in attending to students’ diverse sense making repertoires. This study contributes to the literature by offering a replicable, research-informed model for preparing preservice teachers to engage in equity-oriented science teaching. Future iterations of the protocol should integrate opportunities for preservice teachers to critically examine their own cultural histories, biases, and ideologies in relation to equitable science instruction.
Justice-Oriented Science Teaching and Learning: Anchoring Phenomena in Science Classrooms
Research at Alder Research Informing Our Work Home Justice-Oriented Science Teaching and Learning: Anchoring Phenomena in Science Classrooms This textbook provides K-12 science teachers and educators innovative uses of anchoring phenomenon-based teaching approaches from a justice-oriented lens (Morales-Doyle, 2017). It discusses topics such as the use of anchoring phenomenon-based pedagogies, qualities of productive anchoring phenomena and includes examples of unit plans that use anchoring phenomena and social justice science issues to create storylines to foster students’ multiple pathways to knowing and learning in the science classrooms. The book is beneficial to K-12 science teachers and science educators who are interested in facilitating students’ sense-making of a real-world phenomenon and engaging in three-dimensional science instruction (NGSS Lead States, 2013). By providing examples of unit plans based on theoretical groundings of anchoring phenomenon-based instruction and justice-oriented science teaching, this book provides a great resource to students, professionals, teachers, and academics in science education. https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-031-76297-0
How teachers’ beliefs and pedagogical practices are impacted by the experience of being labeled as an English learner
Research at Alder Research Informing Our Work Home How teachers’ beliefs and pedagogical practices are impacted by the experience of being labeled as an English learner This study explores how public school teachers who were classified as English learners (ELs) in childhood make sense of the EL category, and how their beliefs shape their work with students who are designated as ELs. One understudied context in the field of effective education for ELs is the experience of teachers who were personally impacted by the label. In this study, seven teachers tell how they discovered that they were labeled as ELs, describe their experiences as EL-designated students, and explain how those experiences influence their current understanding of the EL label and shape their teaching. By examining these stories through the lenses of labeling, stigma, and sense making, the study informs the work of educators who advocate for and instruct students designated as ELs, as well as individuals who train preservice and in-service teachers. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/tesj.890
Teaching for Justice While Navigating Shifting Political Landscapes: Developing Criticality Requires Taking Action
Research at Alder Research Informing Our Work Home Teaching for Justice While Navigating Shifting Political Landscapes: Developing Criticality Requires Taking Action Dr. Steele’s editorial on navigating shifting political landscapes highlights the tensions science teachers and science teacher educators will face in teaching science as a tool for social justice. The editorial highlights shifts in the incoming administration’s approach to issues related to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion while providing science teachers and science teachers educators with frameworks that highlight practical approaches to liberating pedagogies. Teaching for Justice While Navigating Shifting Political Landscapes: Developing Criticality Requires Taking Action
