Mari Koerner, Alice Wiley Snell Professor of Education
Wendy Peia Oakes has been an assistant professor at Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College at Arizona State University since 2012. Her research and teaching continue a mission she undertook nearly 30 years and three degrees ago as a middle school classroom teacher in College Park, Maryland: improving educational access and outcomes for young children with emotional and behavioral disorders.
Arizona educators and concerned parents are eagerly anticipating direction from state officials on how and when K-12 schools should proceed as their communities continue opening up amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The Arizona Department of Education is expected to release its guidelines for school reopening this week, and an Arizona State University professor said a dynamic and multilayered approach will be required in order to secure students’ learning environments.
Searching for a meaningful problem can be tricky. What might be meaningful for me, as the teacher, may not be as meaningful to my students. What might be meaningful for my students, may not align to the standards. Either way, it is well worth the effort to spend time formulating a meaningful problem to increase engagement, build inquiry strategies, and hone students’ solution sharing skills.
Editor's note: This story originally appeared in the summer 2020 issue of ASU Thrive magazine.
Written by Carole G. Basile, the dean of ASU’s Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College, which is partnering with Arizona schools and other organizations to develop the Next Education Workforce. Find more of her writing on the future of education on her blog, The Next Normal: Principled provocations in education.
A monthly survey of books, chapters, articles and conference papers written by faculty members and graduate students of Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College
One of the most challenging parts of developing a PBELL lesson plan is where to find inspiration. You are aware by now that a PBELL lesson starts with a meaningful problem (See “A tricky part of PBELL” if you need a refresher on the topic). Inspiration for a meaningful problem can come from many places; your curriculum guide, state or national standards, or problems in and around your classroom.
“The world has changed,” Lisa Wyatt, senior program strategist, Next Education Workforce says. “We need to find new ways to meet the needs of all learners in a 21st-century context. We need to shape the jobs of educators so they are sustainable and fulfilling.”
COVID-19 forced all teaching in Arizona to go to an all-online format this past spring, including special education supports and services.
Special education district leaders and teachers quickly made the transition to finish out the semester, but they face serious complications — and unexpected opportunities — to build equitable and inclusive practices in the fall.
To get a better perspective on the issue, ASU Now spoke with Arizona State University’s Lauren Katzman, executive director of the Urban Collaborative, which is housed in ASU’s Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College.
This month, we focus on the nation’s most pressing issues. The COVID-19 crisis has altered the lives and realities of most people. Pandemics, says Michael W. Apple of Bejing Normal University, are in some ways equalizers. “Illness and death are faced by people across the economic spectrum,” he says. But that doesn’t mean the loss is equal. Minorities and the impoverished suffer more, in healthcare, homeschooling and more.