It Takes a Village: Cultivating Educators’ Hope in the Midst of Uncertain Futures
Abstract
This presentation engages the topic of teachers as curriculum (Schubert & Schultz, 2015) through an exploration of ways that educators cultivate hope for culturally relevant teaching practices in spite of daunting circumstances. This presentation is based on the experiences of nine k-12, community, and university educators who participated in an intensive, two-week summer institute hosted by the Deep Writing Project (DWP). These educators faced new policies and practices to protect their own and students’ health, teach online or both in-person and online, and meet the needs of students during an international health crisis: COVID-19. As a community site for the National Writing Project, the DWP aimed to build educators’ capacity to write, write publicly, build community through writing, and lead and advocate for social justice issues. Despite the struggles they faced, qualitative and quantitative data collected from the DWP highlighted ways that this supportive and collaborative environment inspired relational hope, promoted motivation, and provided practical culturally relevant and socially just teaching practices. In this presentation, we will share data collected from pre- and post-survey responses to an Educator Hope Scale, and transcriptions and notes from participants’ discussions about the impact of the DWP after three months. We will discuss aspects of hope these educators showcased: sense of agency, pathways to achieving goals, and relational hope. By highlighting connections between group-based learning and support, educator hope, and culturally relevant teaching practices, this study sheds light on the significance of collaborative learning spaces for cultivating educator hope during challenging and uncertain times.
Presentation Description
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Location
Room 106
Publication Type and Release Option
Presentation (Open Access)
Recommended Citation
Shannon-Baker, Peggy A.; Ross, Sabrina; and Davis, Seabon, "It Takes a Village: Cultivating Educators’ Hope in the Midst of Uncertain Futures" (2022). Curriculum Studies Summer Collaborative. 36.
https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/cssc/2022/2022/36
It Takes a Village: Cultivating Educators’ Hope in the Midst of Uncertain Futures
Room 106
This presentation engages the topic of teachers as curriculum (Schubert & Schultz, 2015) through an exploration of ways that educators cultivate hope for culturally relevant teaching practices in spite of daunting circumstances. This presentation is based on the experiences of nine k-12, community, and university educators who participated in an intensive, two-week summer institute hosted by the Deep Writing Project (DWP). These educators faced new policies and practices to protect their own and students’ health, teach online or both in-person and online, and meet the needs of students during an international health crisis: COVID-19. As a community site for the National Writing Project, the DWP aimed to build educators’ capacity to write, write publicly, build community through writing, and lead and advocate for social justice issues. Despite the struggles they faced, qualitative and quantitative data collected from the DWP highlighted ways that this supportive and collaborative environment inspired relational hope, promoted motivation, and provided practical culturally relevant and socially just teaching practices. In this presentation, we will share data collected from pre- and post-survey responses to an Educator Hope Scale, and transcriptions and notes from participants’ discussions about the impact of the DWP after three months. We will discuss aspects of hope these educators showcased: sense of agency, pathways to achieving goals, and relational hope. By highlighting connections between group-based learning and support, educator hope, and culturally relevant teaching practices, this study sheds light on the significance of collaborative learning spaces for cultivating educator hope during challenging and uncertain times.
