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Big Learning in Small Communities: Exploring with YPAR in International Schools

Item

Title
Big Learning in Small Communities: Exploring with YPAR in International Schools
Abstract/Description
This study is a critical evaluation conducted by a Youth-led Participatory Action research team that has, over the course of five years, sought to investigate culturally responsive pedagogies in international schools populated with Third Culture Kids. Previous to this work, the youth researchers and I developed an interdisciplinary, choice and project-based honors program which we called the Small Learning Community. As such, this program became the object of and context for this review. We were guided by the question, What are, if any, the perceived learning benefits for students in the Small Learning Community?, and we sought to critically evaluate the program’s perceived impact on meaningful learning experiences, student agency, and transference of skills. We leveraged constructivist-oriented Grounded Theory—in part because of the value this approach assigns to emic knowledge—to examine interview transcripts of SLC participants. I then developed case studies and argue for pedagogical shifts in the international classroom that center more deliberately on (1) active participation, (2) the perception of new, (3) choice, (4) attention to process, (5) personal interest, and (6) social emotional learning, while addressing the need for more intentional and systematic practitioner research.
Author/creator
Hawkins, Lora Elaine
Date
2021
Institution
Columbia University
Committee
Fecho, Bob
Resource type
en Research/Scholarly Media
Resource status/form
en Thesis/Dissertation
Scholarship genre
en Empirical
Keywords
grounded theory
international schools
small learning communities
social constructivism
youth-research
YPAR
IRE Approach/Concept
Youth Participatory Action Research (YPAR)
Language
English
Open access/full-text available
en Yes
Peer reviewed
en No
ISBN
9798516916212
URL
Official Dissertation Webpage (via ProQuest Dissertations)
Open Access Dissertation (Columbia Academic Commons)
Citation
Hawkins, L. E. (2021). Big Learning in Small Communities: Exploring with YPAR in International Schools [Ph.D., Columbia University]. https://www.proquest.com/dissertations/docview/2545627177/abstract/99F8961E2C95448EPQ/41
Place
United States -- New York
Rights
Database copyright ProQuest LLC; ProQuest does not claim copyright in the individual underlying works.
Type
Ph.D.
Item sets
IRE Theses and Dissertations
Dissertation
20220707 IRE Dissertations

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