Amy E. Ryken

“Goin’ somewhere”: How career technical education programs support and constrain urban youths’ career decision-making

This study analyzes urban youths’ career decision-making in a career and technical education program that provided work-based learning experiences and a pathway linking high school, community college, and work in biotechnology laboratories. The program provided work experiences not generally available to adolescents, and enabled students underrepresented in the sciences to experience and envision a scientific career. Case studies reveal tensions in students’ career decision-making as they gained knowledge/skills and kept career and educational options open; students saw increasing options for their future and the limits of program experiences. Students should be supported to take on active roles and to shape educational and career programs to fit their unique goals. New vocational education works to balance the tension between providing students with job-specific experiences while also exposing them to the breadth of options in the field (Grubb, 1996). Balancing this tension is a significant challenge, as evidence has shown that skills learned in internships are often not integrated with a broader sense of work organization or an occupation (Bailey, Hughes, & Moore, 2004). In this paper, the analysis of a best practice biotechnology-focused career and technical education (CTE) program reveals how one program balances the tension between providing broad options versus specific training. Aligning Educational and Occupational Goals Researchers have suggested that CTE reforms can lead to changes in pedagogy and content (Bailey et al., 2004; Grubb 1996; Urquiola, Stern, Horn, Dornsife, Chi, Williams, Merritt, Hughes, & Bailey, 1997). Students who have participated in programs that link high school, college and work have the opportunity to participate in a community of practice, where instruction is personalized through sustained, caring interactions with peers, teachers, and employers. In addition, students who have been engaged in active pedagogy with hands-on experiences in labs and classes can apply school learning to work site responsibilities (Crain, Allen, Thaler, Sullivan, Zellman, Warren Little, & Quigley, 1999; Grubb, Badway, Bell, Kraskouskas, 1996;

A spider and a fly in a web: seeing myself in the details of praxis

Exposing the details of our teaching practices, how we interact with and respond to students, is essential to teaching from the heart. The author shares a self‐study of one teaching practice to highlight that by analysing praxis in detail, we can understand unique ways of teaching from the heart and come to understand ourselves. The analysis reveals consistent response patterns and missed opportunities to be present as a full participant in a reciprocal written conversation with students. It is in these findings that facets of the authors identity become visible. As she works to weave a web of connections between her students, her subject matter, and herself she finds that she is both a spider spinning a web and a fly caught in it.Exposing the details of our teaching practices, how we interact with and respond to students, is essential to teaching from the heart. The author shares a self‐study of one teaching practice to highlight that by analysing praxis in detail, we can understand unique ways of teaching from the heart and come to understand ourselves. The analysis reveals consistent response patterns and missed opportunities to be present as a full participant in a reciprocal written conversation with students. It is in these findings that facets of the authors identity become visible. As she works to weave a web of connections between her students, her subject matter, and herself she finds that she is both a spider spinning a web and a fly caught in it.

Rehearsing professional roles in community: Teacher identity development in a school-university partnership

In this article, the authors describe a school–university relationship which aims to sustain dialogue between educators who are positioned differently in relation to pre‐service teacher growth. The authors distinguish an ‘intentional partnership’ model from other approaches to school–university collaboration, providing a rationale for their focus on identity development and dialogue. These two areas have particular salience for beginning teachers in the American context of accountability reform, where increasingly teachers are positioned as implementers of curriculum and learning is often defined through narrow numerical scores. Using their experience with an elementary school partnership, the authors examine discourse patterns at meetings and participant feedback to explore ways in which teacher identities are rehearsed and how identity positions are taken up in relation to such issues as district‐mandated curricula. They conclude with implications for teacher educators regarding teacher identity development and school–university partnerships practices.

Engaging Children's Spontaneous Questions About Social Diversity

In this article the author shares conversations she has had with elementary students inquiring about her gender identity to make visible the daily-ness of conversations about sameness and difference and to surface her own struggles with, and pedagogical deliberations about, these conversations. The conversations are conceptualized as both the unit of participation and analysis. Analyzing transcripts of conversations creates a tool for teacher reflection and proactively surfaces discussions about identity and social participation.

Because It’s a Girl Cake!:Because It’s a Girl Cake!: Fostering Dialogue About Gender Identity in Elementary Classrooms

In this documentary account, a kindergarten teacher and teacher educator describe our efforts to explore how young children think and reason about gender expression in and beyond the classroom. We describe our ongoing collaboration to develop a framework for teacher-initiated and student-initiated conversations about gender, which often result from students’� spontaneous� remarks� and� questions� about� gender� norms.� We� explore� the� question,� How can educators create relevant and engaging learning opportunities to invite young learners to discuss gender norms within the classroom? In this paper we share kindergartners’� conversations� about� gender� and� three� examples� of� their� writing� about� this� topic. We conclude that an inquiry approach to teaching, that aims to be respectful of and responsive to students developing ideas about gender identity, is both possible and necessary. The conversation below sparked our interest and curiosity, and made us consider how gender is thought about, seen, portrayed, and discussed among elementary students.