Abstract
Reorganizing science learning towards expansive sense-making in elementary classroom settings will likely require disrupting long-standing narratives of schooling and science where taken-for-granted norms and practices structure marginalization and privilege. Supporting expansive sense-making, increased epistemic agency and authority, and more meaningful, consequential learning has proven elusive in elementary classrooms. Why is this the case? What can be done? This paper presents themes derived from analysis of multiple elementary science classroom video cases to hypothesize how sense-making shifts happen, albeit briefly, in a variety of classroom contexts and situations. Observing patterns in sensemaking shifts enables us to confront how deep historical and cultural legacies of the grammar of schooling may inhibit shifts toward sense-making in science classrooms. These hypotheses raise implications for teacher education and for organizing schools to foster sense-making goals to support expansive and transformative science learning experiences.
Original language | English (US) |
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Title of host publication | 14th International Conference of the Learning Sciences |
Subtitle of host publication | The Interdisciplinarity of the Learning Sciences, ICLS 2020 - Conference Proceedings |
Editors | Melissa Gresalfi, Ilana Seidel Horn |
Publisher | International Society of the Learning Sciences (ISLS) |
Pages | 2281-2284 |
Number of pages | 4 |
ISBN (Electronic) | 9781732467286 |
State | Published - 2020 |
Event | 14th International Conference of the Learning Sciences: The Interdisciplinarity of the Learning Sciences, ICLS 2020 - Nashville, United States Duration: Jun 19 2020 → Jun 23 2020 |
Publication series
Name | Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning Conference, CSCL |
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Volume | 4 |
ISSN (Print) | 1573-4552 |
Conference
Conference | 14th International Conference of the Learning Sciences: The Interdisciplinarity of the Learning Sciences, ICLS 2020 |
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Country/Territory | United States |
City | Nashville |
Period | 6/19/20 → 6/23/20 |
Funding
This work was supported by the National Science Foundation (Grant RC103139). The opinions expressed herein are those of the authors and not necessarily those of NSF. We would like to thank the children and teachers in each of the video case study classrooms for sharing their work. We are grateful to Dr. Angela Calabrese Barton, Dr. Elizabeth X. De Los Santos, Jason Buell, and Quinton Freeman for formative insights and generative discussion in early stages of this work.
Keywords
- Elementary science teaching
- Elementary teacher education
- Equity
- Sense-making
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Human-Computer Interaction
- Education