Collaborative Design as Mediated Praxis: Professional Development for Socially Just Pedagogies

Abstract

In this study, we examine a multiyear professional development program designed to help English teachers incorporate connected learning into their classrooms. We propose a model of professional learning we term collaborative design as mediated praxis, which refines and extends the five features of high-quality professional development and takes into account a focus on social justice and equity. A variety of data were collected for the study including recordings of planning meetings, teachers’ reflections, and teachers’ unit plans. Analysis focused specifically on rich points (Agar, 2000) that occurred during the workshop and follow-up meetings, revealing tensions between university- and school-based educators as they engaged in the collaborative design process.