Kaleidoscope: Educator Voices and Perspectives
Welcome to Kaleidoscope: Educator Voices and Perspectives. Just like peering into a kaleidoscope and seeing a range of intricate and colorful reflections, this journal will offer a range of thoughtful and connected perspectives from the multi-faceted areas of teaching and education through the reflections of educators. In an effort to share the knowledge and insight gained through our work in KSTF’s unique professional network, the journal will provide substantive and reflective writing informed by our classroom practices and our collaborative inquiry. It is the editorial board’s hope to encourage educators to reflect on their own practices, engage in dialogue with other teaching professionals, and empower transformation in teaching and schooling practices.
Introduction
This inaugural issue of Kaleidoscope: Educator Voices and Perspectives comprises five articles representing a range of experiences, viewpoints, and writing that demonstrates this journal’s intention of sharing a variety of voices and perspectives.
Two of the articles in this issue address science curriculum and curriculum in practice. Senior Fellow Zach Powers, along with former student leader Mimi Wilcox, writes about his physics class’s engineering project, Team Blend, an international service learning project. Senior Fellow Casey O’Hara explores the potential prospects of interdisciplinary, sustainability-focused, project-based science learning.
Three Fellows—Senior Fellow Mark Hartman, 2010 Teaching Fellow Heather Hotchkiss, and 2012 Teaching Fellow Kate Miller—recount the development, trials, and triumphs of their cross-district International Baccalaureate (IB) Physics collaboration group.
Two authors probe the depths of their practice in self-critical reflection. 2013 Fellow Justine Myers considers the evolution of her beliefs about teacher-student relationships. Senior Fellow Kate Markiewicz shares the deep, practitioner-inquiry process that led her to uncover and acknowledge areas for personal growth as a teacher.
This issue is just our first opportunity to present the voices of current Fellows and experienced educators sharing their perspectives on their classrooms and practices. All of our Fellow contributors deserve our gratitude and respect for bringing their writing forward for us to read, reflect upon, and learn from. We want to thank them, and we are proud to showcase who they are.
In This Issue
When Relationship Building Fails
Ultimately, building relationships sometimes fails, but I will and must continue to try to build them.
Worms, Bunny-Huggers, and the Triple Bottom Line: Multidisciplinary Projects for Environmental Education
If interdisciplinary project-based learning is such an effective path to learning, why are these examples not the norm in classrooms across the country?
Team Blend: Critical Partnerships in STEM-Focused International Service Learning
This is the story of how three organizations found each other and worked collaboratively to develop and implement STEM-focused international service learning projects.
The Tale of a Successful Collaboration
At a time when required teacher collaboration is weaving its way into professional responsibilities, we offer a story of a meaningful collaboration that has been maintained for the past three years.
Issue Editors:
About Kaleidoscope
Kaleidoscope strives to provide readers and writers a public space for discourse and dialogue about the knowledge and expertise of teachers and the complexity of our profession. We believe that teachers are well-positioned to improve education in their classrooms and beyond, and we know the power that storytelling and knowledge sharing can hold in the process of transforming educational outcomes for students.
Archive
Revisit past issues of Kaleidoscope Journal, published biannually in the spring and fall.
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