FAMILY L ITERACY COMMUNITY OF PRACT ICE :

COMMUNITY MAPP ING AND CR IT ICAL TEACHER INQUIRY

MARCH 4 , 2015

ROSARIO ORDONEZ-JASISDEPARTMENT OF LITERACY AND

READINGCSU FULLERTON

PURPOSE

• This study focused on the development and evolution of teachers’ enacted theories about how family and community-based literacies support literacy learning and engagement within schools.

• It investigated how involvement in a Family Literacy Community of Practice (CoP) shapes and/or supports teacher inquiry on family and community literacy(ies).

CONTEXT: CONNECTING WORLDS OF STUDENTS IN AND OUT OF SCHOOL

“We’ve been going out into the community and interviewing parents and just finding out about their perceptions about their children…to find out what assets they have in the community. And then also we’ve been trying to find ways to connect with the community and to bring the children’s worlds into the classroom as well as take our world outside and connect with the parents.”

(Frank, 6th grade teacher, follow-up interview 5/2014)

THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

Three Lines of Research1. Literacy Engagement:• Connecting students’ interest and recognizing

them as holding useful knowledge builds engagement, comprehension, and motivation (Guthrie & Wigfield, 2009; Ivey, 2010).• Engagement as intricately tied to social

contexts (Brozo & Mayville, 2012)• Connecting new literacy practices with

existing socio-cultural literacy knowledge helps transfer expertise and builds positive literate identities (Jimenez, 2004; Moll & Gonzales, 2004).

THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

2. Teacher Critical Inquiry• Observing/documenting “funds of knowledge” helps educators situate literacy and better understand the diverse ways literacy is experienced (Moll, 2010)

• Enhanced responsiveness to students’ literacy growth and curriculum relevance (Genishi & Dyson, 2009)

THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

3. Communities of Practice• Common interest, shared inquiry, individual and collective expertise (Wenger, 1999)• Educators with “interest, passion, or need to commit to learning with and from each other to become more effective in their practice” (Ball Foundation, 2009)• Spaces for inquiry, reflection, and interrogation

METHODS

• Teacher action research project (Lytle & Cochran-Smith, 1992).• Communities as settings for study and critical analysis

• Data emerges from a larger multi-year longitudinal study • 5 years: 2009-2014

• Ten K-12 Latino teachers• Mid-sized diverse urban district• Members of a teacher-led Family Literacy Community of Practice (CoP)

DATA SOURCES

Year 1: Analytic memos; audiotaped meetings; document, field notes and artifact analysis

Year 2: Classroom observations; interviews, videotape of classroom practice and retreat/interviews; audiotaped design, meetings; emails; questionnaires

Year 3: Emails archived; design notes facilitator training; audiotaped design team mtgs; CoP written reflections

Year 4: Focus group interviews; surveys; audiotaped design team calls; student interview; artifact collection, fieldnotes, design team interviews

Year 5: Interviews with design team, district leaders, document analysis, targeted follow-up interviews

GUIDING RESEARCH QUESTIONS

• What are the CoP’s theories about the role of family and community literacy on students’ in-school literacy learning?

• To what extent do those theories change through participation in collaborative, systematic inquiry into community/family literacy(ies)?

DATA AND INTERPRETATIONS: LITERACY LEARNING IS ROOTED IN COMMUNITY

1. Collaborative culture: Confianza2. Sustained attention to a focused line

of inquiry3. Co-created shared understandings of

“literacies not readily seen”4. Commitment to action: Grounding

findings in student learning/communities in classrooms

1. COLLABORATIVE CULTURE: CONFIANZA

• Shared agreements and norms• Careful planning• Design team

2. SUSTAINED ATTENTION TO A FOCUSED LINE OF INQUIRY: INDIVIDUAL AND COLLECTIVE UNDERSTANDINGS

“Working in a community of practice has changed me. Learning from my peers, collaborating with my peers….it’s that collective piece that was most powerful for me….we bring it all together and we find the theme in all of our learnings.” (Antonio, 6th grade teacher, interview, May 2011).

“I’m also beginning to see it as making these ideas actionable through inquiry…You must participate actively and that’s how your perspective changes. That’s how you make the connections. That’s how you tap into the world. That’s how you get to know your community.”(Roberta, Bilingual teacher, written reflections, Oct. 2010).

Community Mapping Process

1. Goals, timeline, tasks 6. Write field notes

2. Gather demographic informationAssess needs/concerns

7. Survey or interview parents and/or community members

3. Scout geographical location

8. Tabulate/synthesize “findings”

4. Identify places to visit and community informants to interview

9. Records reflections

5. Collect artifacts, photograph/ videotape

10. Debrief

SUSTAINED INQUIRY TIED TO PROCESSES AND TOOLS ASSOCIATED WITH COMMUNITY

MAPPING

3. UNLOCKING “LITERACIES NOT READILY SEEN”

4. CRITICAL QUESTIONING AND COMMITMENT TO ACTION

“We bring in separate curriculums and stories and we set the tone. And when I say we, I mean “we” as a whole not just the teachers in the classroom but as a district and state. We don’t stop to think about (how) everybody’s language and everybody’s cultural experiences are important. And why is this more important than this? So if we have that political power to set what’s important then we need to make sure that we’re making those choices with a lot of knowledge of understanding of our cultural community that we’re working in.”(Rosa, 3rd grade teacher, CoP meeting, Jan. 2012).

GROUNDING CM “FINDINGS” IN STUDENT LEARNING: COMMUNITIES

IN THE CLASSROOM

• CoPs spaces to intentionally and systematically problematize whose language and cultural experiences count and whose do not;

• Sustained inquiry – with clear processes and support – allowed for effective use of evidence.

• Incorporating community-based cultural and linguistic practices into literacy curriculum is enhanced by collaborations with other teachers and families

• CM as an inquiry-based method for uncovering students’ cultural, linguistic and community spheres. Offers the potential to shift perspectives about the literacy knowledge and expertise that are relevant and connected to the school curriculum

IMPLICATIONS