Experiential education (EE) leads to positive outcomes for K-12 students; however, such practice remains on the periphery of schools. One key to centering EE in classrooms is to do so in teacher education. This study explores what it means to delve into EE as teacher educators alongside our students in field sites far removed from traditional university classrooms. For this self-study, we analyzed instructor journal reflections, research-assistant field notes, and a collective interview transcript. From these, we developed narrative cases of our individual experiences at field sites. Cross-case analysis revealed themes rarely associated with the work of teacher education professors. Like our students, we were confronted in the field with what Christian Itin refers to as physical, social, moral, emotional, intellectual, and spiritual challenges. The shifting realities of our roles as teacher educators revealed what it means to do EE alongside our students. The experience and accompanying reflection prompted us to consider how centering experience in teacher education shifts the oft-directive and didactic nature of our work. To shift their pedagogy, teacher educators must have new images of possibility. Here, we make transparent our journey as teacher education travelers on the path of experiential education.
Background: This study examines the role of a weeklong experiential residency program on teachers’ beliefs about self and practice. Purpose: The goal of two separate intensive experiences was to help teachers generate new insight about the place of students, the teacher, and the school that extended beyond a surface-level understanding of experiential education. Methodology/Approach: Through a qualitative approach, the research team used field notes, course documents, participant reflections, researcher journals, and follow-up interviews to analyze the impact of participants’ immersion in either of the experiential outdoor residencies. Findings/Conclusions: The unpredictable nature of the physical and social environment of the experiential week helped teachers to see the central role of community in the learning process. Furthermore, teacher responses to the experience defied simple categorization along a prior theoretical construct. Teachers indicated a growing confidence in their ability to seek out and overcome challenges across multiple domains. Implications: These teachers were challenged to integrate multiple social and emotional aspects of self into their learning, while envisioning the same for their own students. Their experiences and reflections support an expanded role for immersive experiences outside of the traditional classroom in teacher education.
This comparative case study examines the place of white supremacy in teacher lessons on the U.S. South. Multi-day lesson plans and interviews with three teacher participants revealed that open encounters with white supremacist histories were supported by a high degree of professional freedom in their school settings. The teachers held a common commitment to teach about white racism and violence. However, extending these lessons into a more comprehensive confrontation with harmful white supremacist master narratives is complicated by highly varied conceptions of the history classroom, among these teachers and in the field of social studies. This study supports continued efforts to provide teachers with resources and space to address racist legacies. I recommend that these efforts should be paired with an inspection of the individual and collective conceptions of social studies classrooms so that master narratives may be addressed more directly.
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