Pre-Service Teachers and Adult Caregivers Learning Alongside One Another | CU Experts

Overview

Research indicates that relationships between teachers and families, particularly in STEM contexts, are often characterized by power imbalances that undermine the rightful presence of all families in STEM pursuits. This chapter focuses on a group of elementary pre-service teachers (PSTs) and adult caregivers (ACs) who learned alongside one another and alongside children in a series of creative computing workshops at an urban public library. The study explores how PSTs and ACs positioned themselves and each other in relation to three key questions—Who is an expert? Who is in charge? Who belongs? Our findings suggest that learning alongside one another created possibilities for unsettling typical, hierarchical ideas about knowledge, power, and belonging.