voices-features

Powerful Partnerships

Anonymous — Wed, 05 Sep 2018 18:13:16 +0000

Powerful Partnerships Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 09/05/2018 - 12:13

Growing a Movement for Research-Practice Partnerships

By Bill Penuel, professor of learning sciences and human development

Promoting equity and justice in education calls on scholars to adopt what professors emeriti Ernest House and Ken Howe called a “democratic practice” of educational research. That is, our approach informs public dialogue about the aims and plans for education and is engaged with educators, families, communities and youth about their futures.

Today, there is renewed interest in a particular form of engaged scholarship called “research-practice partnerships.” And while the idea of partnership is not new, the sense of urgency about the need for partnership and scholarship on the dynamics and outcomes of partnerships is.

Partnerships are tackling some of the most challenging problems of educational equity and expanding sites of hope and possibility for more just educational futures. Partnerships are working to expand restorative disciplinary practices and reduce racial disparities that contribute to the school-to-prison pipeline. They are providing powerful tools to school leaders to help struggling students stay on track for graduation. Our own Inquiry Hub partnership in Denver is focused on helping students see how science and engineering can help address community problems while creating more inclusive classroom cultures.

“Partnerships are tackling some of the most challenging problems of educational equity and expanding sites of hope and possibility for more just educational futures.”

These partnerships are able to take on such big challenges because they bring together people who bring a broad range of political interests, experiences and expertise needed to imagine new possibilities for education. For example, our partnership brings together youth and educators from Denver Public Schools, a youth leadership organization (Project Voyce), a professional development provider (Next Generation Science Exemplar System for Professional Development) and researchers from two universities (CU Boulder and Northwestern University). Partnerships like ours blur the line that separates researchers and practitioners as we all pitch in to do what is needed at any given time.

Partnerships are challenging to create and maintain. Although we might enter with intentions for promoting equity within them, social inequality and status differences among youth, families, educators and researchers shape how we interact in partnerships. To succeed in their endeavors, partnerships must confront institutional and cultural resistance to equity-minded reforms. And people must learn to work together to find and solve problems in ways that are likely to be unfamiliar to everyone involved.

Fortunately, a movement is afoot to support the growth of research-practice partnerships nationwide. New networks, such as the National Network of Education Research Partnerships and the URBAN Research Network, are bringing people together to share and learn from one another. Workshops like the Design-Based Implementation Research workshop we hold each summer in Boulder help researchers and educators learn how to organize collaborative processes to design and test educational innovations in and out of schools. And the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching has supported hundreds of educators in building “networked improvement communities” to create more reliable developments in education.

We are a hub within this growing movement here at CU Boulder, thanks to the leadership of our dean and several initiatives led by our research centers that embody the spirit of collaboration. A Queer Endeavor partners with local schools that are implementing gender-expansive policies and practices. CU Engage is reimagining the relationship among teaching, service and research. Through the National Center for Research in Policy and Practice, we are contributing to the scholarship of partnerships, developing an understanding of when and how partnerships can be successful.

We stand poised to help prepare the next generation of scholars and educators who contribute to a more democratic vision for education research and practice, at a time when we need leadership for equity and justice more than ever.

Learn more about research-practice partnership and the School of Education research centers at colorado.edu/education/centers.

Illustration by Jing Jing Tsong.

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One Step at a Time

Anonymous — Wed, 05 Sep 2018 18:12:41 +0000

One Step at a Time Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 09/05/2018 - 12:12

Addressing international impasse with education, leadership and understanding

Christine Ahn awoke from a vivid dream in 2009 and exclaimed, “I know who will end the Korean War: It will be women.” Six years later, she and fellow leaders were taking steps toward her dream by organizing a women’s peace walk across the most militarized border in the world, the demilitarized zone (DMZ) between North and South Korea. The peaceful demonstration cast new light on the Korean Peninsula, an international focal point since the unresolved Korean War. Not long after Ahn and advocates made headlines, she returned to CU Boulder as an INVST Community Studies alumna to talk with students about organizing peace and humanitarian delegations. From the Olympics to missile tests to peace deals, Korea has once again been in focus. With our school’s community leadership programs thriving, this is a critical time to revisit Ahn’s important work and words.

By Christine Ahn, INVST Community Studies alumna

Known as “the Forgotten War,” the Korean War was brutal. In just three years, nearly 4 million people were killed—mostly innocent civilians. The U.S. bombing campaign destroyed nearly 80 percent of the North. Just one year into the war, a U.S. general told the Senate “there are no more targets, everything is destroyed.” The fighting came to a halt when North Korea, China and the U.S., representing the U.N. Command, signed the 1953 armistice agreement. They promised to return in 90 days to hammer out a peace deal, but the peace deal went unsigned for more than 60 years.

Participants of the Women Cross DMZ March, including Ahn (fourth from left) and Gloria Steinem (third from left). Photo: Niana Liu

One of the legacies of the ceasefire is the 2-mile-wide DMZ, established as a buttress between the two Koreas. With 1.2 million landmines, thousands of armed soldiers and barbed wire, the DMZ is intended to keep families separated and the Korean people from seeing, knowing and understanding each other.

On the 70th anniversary of Korea’s division, it seemed appropriate to do something bold that shook the status quo and shined a light on the insanity of this division. The women’s peace walk across the DMZ was just that.

The idea emerged from a dream. I was working at the Global Fund for Women at the time and managing a program called Women Dismantling Militarism, which supported hundreds of inspiring grassroots women’s efforts worldwide—from Colombia to Congo—to challenge war and militarism. It was then I had the most incredible dream about the Imjin River, which flows through the heart of the Korean Peninsula, that led to my planning and organizing of the walk.

"It was before the break of dawn, and I was wading in the river, chest high. As the sun rose over the horizon, a glow of light gently flowed down the river. It was people carrying candles in their palms, and that light then morphed into the most beautiful family reunifications, of elderly siblings clutching brothers and sisters they had not seen for a lifetime."

"I remember being moved to tears but wanting to keep going upriver to the source of the light. So I waded up the river, and that’s when I came upon a circle of women."

I began ruminating about how women will do this. I received a fellowship to research the efforts of Korean women to build peace. I learned the first meeting of North and South was convened by a Japanese woman, which drove home the important role of women from outside the peninsula during times of inter-Korean impasse. Then I found inspiration for a peace walk when five New Zealanders crossed the DMZ by motorbike. I thought, ‘If they can do it, we can, too.’ I set off to make this dream come true.

Photo: David Guttenfelder

I brought together 30 women peacemakers from 15 countries. Our delegation included two Nobel peace laureates, Gloria Steinem, a retired U.S. Army colonel, humanitarian aid workers, artists, filmmakers, faith leaders and human rights lawyers.

On our 10-day journey, we met with North Korean women in Pyongyang for an international peace symposium, walked with 7,000 women in Pyongyang and Kaesong, crossed the DMZ on International Women's Day for Disarmament, were greeted by 3,000 South Korean women and held a second peace symposium in Seoul.

Why did we walk? To invite all concerned to imagine a new chapter in Korean history, one marked by dialogue, understanding and, ultimately, forgiveness. We walked to help unite Korean families tragically separated by a man-made division. We walked to reduce military tensions on the Korean Peninsula, which have ramifications for peace and security throughout the world. We walked to urge our leaders to redirect funds devoted to armaments toward improving people's welfare and protecting the environment. We walked to end the Korean War by replacing the armistice agreement with a peace treaty. And we're going to continue walking to ensure that women are involved at all levels of the peace-building process.

Christine Ahn, an INVST Community Studies alumna, is addressing international impasse with education, leadership and understanding. In 2009, she had a vivid dream that women will help end the Korean War. Later, she and fellow leaders were taking steps toward her dream by organizing a women’s peace walk across the demilitarized zone (DMZ) in Korea.

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Keeping the Dream Alive

Anonymous — Wed, 05 Sep 2018 17:48:46 +0000

Keeping the Dream Alive Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 09/05/2018 - 11:48

How a musical ’60s activist became a champion of education

By Kenna Bruner

As Tom Windham stood among the 250,000 people gathered in front of the Lincoln Memorial, Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech galvanized the 19-year-old.

The experience of participating in the 1963 March on Washington propelled him toward a keen interest in facilitating the emergence of talent, of opportunity and achievement for people who for generations have been indoctrinated to believe that they are not deserving.

Known for creating learning and mentoring communities, Tom Windham (PhDPsych’75) is highly regarded as a diversity expert, advocate and educator and an active supporter of CU Boulder’s School of Education.

“Education has always been my passion,” said Windham, a longtime member of the School of Education Development Advisory Board. “It’s in my DNA from my parents and my community.”

Windham grew up in Harlem and the South Bronx during a time of burgeoning political activism when many groups were mobilizing to protest for better schools, jobs and housing. The area was also a recruiting ground for black nationalist groups.

The opportunity to be a part of the March on Washington came from his summer job working as a machinist in an AFL-CIO union shop that was supportive of the march and provided transportation for the employees to attend.

“The significance of that experience grew after the march,” he said. “To see that you’re not alone, that so many people want the same outcomes, was very motivating. Then to come back home and share it with my family and community was incredible. We talked about things that we could not have talked about otherwise. I witnessed a shift in attitudes and behavior from a posture of powerless victims to persons with agency, as legitimate first-class citizens.”

Using music as a foundation for learning

Before his college education started, Windham attended the New York City School of Music and Art. He auditioned on the piano. The school didn’t teach piano, so he was assigned the contrabass, which he still has to this day.

Playing the contrabass wasn’t all that Windham learned at the school. In the charged political milieu of that time and place, he learned about the power of using music and art to protest against inequities.

That emphasis continued during his undergraduate years at New Mexico Highlands University, where he was a member of The Don’t Care Singers, whose repertoire consisted largely of protest and freedom music.

At first, Windham wasn’t interested in college, but from other students he learned about the many doors a college degree could open for making change.

“I said, ‘Wow. Everybody is doing it, doing it, doing it. Let me check this out,’” he said.

He went on to earn bachelor’s and master’s degrees in psychology from New Mexico Highlands University, and his doctorate in psychology from CU Boulder. He also received a specialist in education degree from CU Denver.

Music continued to be an important theme, as Windham applied musical structures and foundation to his practice of psychology and education.

“Music talks about harmony and interdependence,” he said. “When you’re in an ensemble, jazz in particular, you listen to what other musicians are doing to see how you can complement what they’re doing. You listen so you know that when it’s time for you to do your thing, you can do it in a way they can support and encourage.”

Being prepared for opportunity

Windham draws inspiration from imagining the possibilities of what people can achieve when they are motivated to initiate change.

“I see the potential of what we could be,” he said. “Education is primary to bringing us closer, being credentialed in ways that one can’t dispute the validity of the perspectives you’re representing.”

In fact, education continued to be a common thread throughout his careers as a psychologist, mentor, CEO of a mental health center, director of an undergraduate-to-graduate program and board member.

His advice to students is to go into education with their eyes open and to give serious thought to how to prepare not only for the classroom but also for the social dynamics that influence the classroom, the state and the nation.

“We’re seeing momentum coming from many areas of the country that are pressing upon local, state and national government to raise public education to a higher priority,” Windham said. “I’ve learned to believe even when it’s dark that the sun’s going to rise, and when it does, that new horizon is going to offer incredible opportunities. I’ve learned to be prepared, even when I don’t see the opportunity, but I know it’s there and it’s worth fighting for.”

How a musical ’60s activist became a champion of education. Tom Windham, a longtime supporter of the School of Education, shares his passion for pushing public education to a higher priority, and his advice for students. “I’ve learned to believe even when it’s dark that the sun’s going to rise, and when it does, that new horizon is going to offer incredible opportunities."

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Transforming Classrooms with Love

Anonymous — Wed, 05 Sep 2018 17:43:10 +0000

Transforming Classrooms with Love Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 09/05/2018 - 11:43

Hannah Fletcher

When Carolina Bañuelos was in fourth grade, she took second place in a citywide Colorado essay contest for her piece about being proud to be bilingual. “I remember writing that being bilingual gave me more opportunities to communicate with people,” she explained.

Now a junior in high school, Bañuelos’ life has changed a lot—she’s been enrolling in college-level courses since she was a freshman, and planning for college and potential careers in education, fire science or criminal justice. Her pride in her bilingualism, however, and her focus on her future are in large part due to an inspiring, loving teacher, Paty Abril-Gonzalez.

Abril-Gonzalez was Bañuelos’ and her classmates’ teacher through four grade transitions from second through fifth grades. Moving up with each grade level allowed the class, their families and their teacher to form a tight bond.

“Moving up with kids was insightful,” she said. “We got to build in new ways, and I got to see them from new perspectives.”

The experience transformed the lives of her students, who are all bilingual and Latinx.

“She guided me through what feels like my whole childhood,” Bañuelos said. “She’s way different from other teachers. She took her time to get to know us and our families, and she is always concerned with how we are doing. She has her own family, but she still manages to make sure we’re OK. I love that about her—we’ve always been a part of her life, too.”

Indeed, the students remain an important part of Abril-Gonzalez’s life. Her former students are the focus of her dissertation on creating spaces and reflecting on past memories. Her research also focuses on the role of student voices and love in the classroom. A highlight of Abril-Gonzalez’s work was to return to their former school playgrounds and schools weekly to meet with eight former students and to once again focus on their hopes and dreams in an effort to transform other classrooms.

Her research involves validating and listening to students’ perspectives on the education system, which was not created with bilingual students in mind. Yet her study finds that there is hope in dismantling racist and negative assumption about students by acknowledging students’ past, present and future. She found we can reimagine teacher education in ways that recognize teachers for getting to know their students inside and outside of the classroom. In Abril-Gonzalez’s reimagined classrooms, all students feel valued, heard and loved.

“It’s really a dream come true to do this work,” she said. “I am committed to these kids and their families. As their teacher, I felt like they deserved the world, and I still do.”

Abril-Gonzalez's hand-drawn illustration of the students from her class and research.

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