I’ve been feeling stuck in abstraction, too removed from what often feels like “real” workâpartly just from being in grad school, partly from the incredible distance caused by this pandemic. So last week I attended some teacher professional development!
I’ve been reading Megan Bang‘s work here and there for years, and recently revisited some of it for a literature review, but I had never had the opportunity to watch her ethical and intellectual convictions “in action” as it were. Despite the limitations of online PD sessions, it was an inspiring look at the cumulative work that the Learning in Places project has accomplished in the past decades, as well as a chance to reconnect with the daily constraints of science teachers. It was also really nice in this time of acute racial reckoning to hear from folks who have been thinking carefully about how to address systemic issues for longer than the past few months.
I am hoping that after a couple more weeks of focusing on my dissertation work I can get back to creating professional development experiences for field trip educators, and no doubt this work will be at the front of my mind.