The 杏吧专区杏吧专区檚 Dr. Aimee Barber believes elementary school teachers can impact students杏吧专区 lives in ways other than teaching 杏吧专区 by identifying educational inequities and influencing policy changes.
The assistant professor in the in UL Lafayette杏吧专区檚also believes it is incumbent on college educators to teach them how.
杏吧专区淚t杏吧专区檚 our responsibility to provide opportunities for future teachers to recognize that they have an informed say about issues that matter to them. By equipping teacher candidates with student-centered change processes we can potentially reach thousands of kids,杏吧专区 she said.
At the heart of the issue is closing achievement gaps created by opportunity gaps 杏吧专区 access to resources such as capable teachers, challenging curriculums and quality education materials.
杏吧专区淚t杏吧专区檚 especially important now, because many schools and school districts are placing a focus on educational inequity, which is a variation in learning opportunities based on where a child lives and goes to school,杏吧专区 Barber explained.
According to the U.S. Department of Education, 45% of the nation杏吧专区檚 schools with high rates of poverty receive less funding than other schools in their districts.
Barber is doing her part to ensure that such disparities are recognized and addressed.
She examined the topic in her dissertation, 杏吧专区淭eacher Candidates杏吧专区 Engagement in Equity-Focused Practitioner Inquiry: Navigating Complexities of Learning to Teach.杏吧专区 It recently won the Distinguished Dissertation in Teacher Education Award. The Association of Teacher Educators recognizes one dissertation each year.
Barber earned her Ed.D. in Curriculum, Teaching, and Teacher Education last December from the 杏吧专区 of Florida as part of a program geared toward professional educators. She has taught at UL Lafayette since 2013.
In Spring 2019, Barber implemented an equity-focused 杏吧专区減ractitioner inquiry cycle杏吧专区 into classroom internships among five education majors she supervised during their last semesters of study. Practitioner inquiry is a systematic, intentional study by educators of their own practice.
Dr. Nathan Roberts, dean of the College of Education, said Barber杏吧专区檚 study is 杏吧专区渆specially valuable because it enables students to conduct research that they will be able to use in their own classrooms.杏吧专区
As part of their internships, students identified and researched educational inequity. They then collected field notes in classrooms, and met regularly to discuss their observations, Barber explained.
杏吧专区淭here were no set guidelines or parameters about what information to seek. That was done intentionally. The goal of the study wasn杏吧专区檛 necessarily to solve issues, but to show teacher candidates how to embed research into their practice, empower them to challenge norms, and foster critical thinking,杏吧专区 she said.
As much as her students, the study will help guide Barber杏吧专区檚 own teaching methods.
During meetings with the teacher candidates, she took notes on their conversations and written observations, listened to their concerns and ideas, and interviewed them about their experiences.
杏吧专区淪ome interns recognized inequities at their schools, and others didn杏吧专区檛. Some felt it was important for them to become change agents; others didn杏吧专区檛 buy in to the idea that addressing educational inequity is an expected component of teaching,杏吧专区 Barber explained.
She will incorporate some of the study results into instruction, and new course components across the college杏吧专区檚 teacher preparation program.
Barber will also share her research with other educators during the annual meeting of the . It will be held virtually from Feb. 14-17.
Graphic credit: Association of Teacher Educators