Shea Kerkhoff
Dr. Kerkhoff’s research includes critical, digital, and global literacies. She uses mixed methods to investigate how teaching strategies for inquiry-based reading and source-based writing can help young people develop and utilize the tools for civic discourse and praxis.
Supervisors: Hiller A. Spires
Supervisors: Hiller A. Spires
less
InterestsView All (15)
Uploads
Papers by Shea Kerkhoff
https://wp.nyu.edu/contingenciesjournal/fall2021/
classrooms (Kerkhoff & Cloud, 2020; Kerkhoff et al., 2019). One way to address this problem of practice is through integrating methods of globally competent teaching with formal teacher education in universities. According to the Longview Foundation (2008) and Knight et al. (2015), education programs in the United States are among the least internationalized on college and university campuses.
The aim of this chapter is to describe the yearlong Internationalizing Teaching and Learning program at our university. The program offered professional development for faculty, adjunct instructors, and graduate teaching assistants seeking to enhance personal global competence and develop the capacity to infuse global learning in their courses through instructional practices. We designed the faculty development program
to provide an opportunity for community-building and professional learning with faculty colleagues. Research has shown that inquiry communities, where knowledge is co-constructed through dialogue, collaboration, and reflection, rather than transmitted through lecture, are an effective form of teacher professional learning.
not one way nor a simple approach for how to define and teach
literacy. Literacy is complex, and teaching literacy is even more
complex (Duke & Cartwright, 2021). Additionally, because students’
needs change from generation to generation, research on literacy
and instruction must evolve, making evidence-based practices
that meet the literacy needs of students a
moving target. In 2020, the Show Me Literacies
Collaborative, a partnership among the Missouri
Writing Projects Network, Missouri Language
and Literacies Center, and University of Missouri
System, partnered with the Missouri Department
of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE)
to work on a federal grant. The grant seeks to
improve literacy instruction and literacy student
outcomes in 80 Missouri schools. The authors,
who are all members of the Missouri Writing Projects Network, are
co-principal investigators or graduate students working on the
grant.
We began our work by supporting teachers to design literacy
action plans for their school. The creation of teacher-generated
literacy action plans presents rich opportunities for schools to
address and respond to the complexities of literacy instruction.
Before describing what literacy action plans are and our guiding
principles for creating teacher-generated literacy action plans, we
start with an expanded definition of literacy that recognizes the
multifaceted nature of language and literacy.
The response to these global crises was felt acutely in schools and necessitated an abrupt change in teaching and learning practices. Although the end of the 2019-2020 school year can be characterized as “emergency teaching,” as summer rolled around, educators began planning in earnest for virtual teaching to start the 2020-21 school year. In the St. Louis, Missouri area districts moved to adopt various online learning management systems and trained teachers on their use. Some districts developed and distributed curricular modules that teachers were required to use. However, even in the most prepared school districts, online platforms and pre-loaded learning modules could not alleviate two primary concerns of teachers returning to a changed classroom: 1) How will I build relationships and community with my students in a virtual setting; and 2) How can I demonstrate my commitment to anti-racist pedagogy and open up brave spaces (Aroa & Clemens, 2013) for critical conversations in a virtual setting? These concerns were exacerbated in communities marginalized by the digital and racial divides in St. Louis.
In an effort to center the needs of historically marginalized people and prioritize educational equity, colleagues at the University of Missouri - St. Louis designed and implemented a free virtual professional learning series rooted in anti-racism for teachers in our region whose schools could not afford to provide professional development or whose professional development experiences were not from a framework of social justice. This project brought together STEM, literacy, and special education researchers to utilize both quantitative and qualitative methods to investigate building community in K-12 online learning.
The move to virtual teaching left many teachers underprepared and unmoored. Indeed, the ongoing staff shortages and increasing teacher burnout have over 55% of teachers considering leaving the field earlier than planned (Walker, 2022) and few who are looking to join the field (Maxouris & Zdanowicz, 2022). Although the reasons for the growing teacher shortage are complex, there are implications of this study for supporting educators who work at all levels of education.
While most schools returned to in-person, face-to-face instruction at some point in 2021, we know that some of the pivots made during virtual teaching are here to stay. For example, educators report being able to communicate more easily with parents via Zoom, and there is opportunity to prevent disruptions to learning using digital platforms for virtual tutoring and instruction during emergency days (e.g. snow days). To better support teachers before they ever enter the field, teacher preparation programs need to work with preservice teachers to consider beneficial uses of technology for creating supportive classroom communities in equitable ways. In addition, preservice teachers need practice with virtual teaching methods during their coursework and field experiences.
important because of increasing global mobility, digital connections,
and national chauvinism. As students engage with diverse others in
schools and online, they need global, critical, and ethical understandings
of language, literacy, and culture. From a critical cosmopolitan
lens, language and literacy educators guide students to
develop a cosmopolitan worldview; dismantle hierarchies through
reading, writing, and thinking; and take action for justice worldwide.
The purpose of this article is to converge cosmopolitanism, critical
pedagogy, and teacher perceptions to construct a framework for
teaching critical cosmopolitan literacies. The findings suggest five
dimensions of critical cosmopolitan literacies: proximal stance,
reflexive stance, reciprocal stance, responsive stance, and praxis.
Overall, participants held positive views of infusing cosmopolitan
dispositions and global perspectives in their classrooms and
reported success with integrating global literature, structuring discussions
to promote empathy, and implementing inquiry to connect
local and global issues.
https://wp.nyu.edu/contingenciesjournal/fall2021/
classrooms (Kerkhoff & Cloud, 2020; Kerkhoff et al., 2019). One way to address this problem of practice is through integrating methods of globally competent teaching with formal teacher education in universities. According to the Longview Foundation (2008) and Knight et al. (2015), education programs in the United States are among the least internationalized on college and university campuses.
The aim of this chapter is to describe the yearlong Internationalizing Teaching and Learning program at our university. The program offered professional development for faculty, adjunct instructors, and graduate teaching assistants seeking to enhance personal global competence and develop the capacity to infuse global learning in their courses through instructional practices. We designed the faculty development program
to provide an opportunity for community-building and professional learning with faculty colleagues. Research has shown that inquiry communities, where knowledge is co-constructed through dialogue, collaboration, and reflection, rather than transmitted through lecture, are an effective form of teacher professional learning.
not one way nor a simple approach for how to define and teach
literacy. Literacy is complex, and teaching literacy is even more
complex (Duke & Cartwright, 2021). Additionally, because students’
needs change from generation to generation, research on literacy
and instruction must evolve, making evidence-based practices
that meet the literacy needs of students a
moving target. In 2020, the Show Me Literacies
Collaborative, a partnership among the Missouri
Writing Projects Network, Missouri Language
and Literacies Center, and University of Missouri
System, partnered with the Missouri Department
of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE)
to work on a federal grant. The grant seeks to
improve literacy instruction and literacy student
outcomes in 80 Missouri schools. The authors,
who are all members of the Missouri Writing Projects Network, are
co-principal investigators or graduate students working on the
grant.
We began our work by supporting teachers to design literacy
action plans for their school. The creation of teacher-generated
literacy action plans presents rich opportunities for schools to
address and respond to the complexities of literacy instruction.
Before describing what literacy action plans are and our guiding
principles for creating teacher-generated literacy action plans, we
start with an expanded definition of literacy that recognizes the
multifaceted nature of language and literacy.
The response to these global crises was felt acutely in schools and necessitated an abrupt change in teaching and learning practices. Although the end of the 2019-2020 school year can be characterized as “emergency teaching,” as summer rolled around, educators began planning in earnest for virtual teaching to start the 2020-21 school year. In the St. Louis, Missouri area districts moved to adopt various online learning management systems and trained teachers on their use. Some districts developed and distributed curricular modules that teachers were required to use. However, even in the most prepared school districts, online platforms and pre-loaded learning modules could not alleviate two primary concerns of teachers returning to a changed classroom: 1) How will I build relationships and community with my students in a virtual setting; and 2) How can I demonstrate my commitment to anti-racist pedagogy and open up brave spaces (Aroa & Clemens, 2013) for critical conversations in a virtual setting? These concerns were exacerbated in communities marginalized by the digital and racial divides in St. Louis.
In an effort to center the needs of historically marginalized people and prioritize educational equity, colleagues at the University of Missouri - St. Louis designed and implemented a free virtual professional learning series rooted in anti-racism for teachers in our region whose schools could not afford to provide professional development or whose professional development experiences were not from a framework of social justice. This project brought together STEM, literacy, and special education researchers to utilize both quantitative and qualitative methods to investigate building community in K-12 online learning.
The move to virtual teaching left many teachers underprepared and unmoored. Indeed, the ongoing staff shortages and increasing teacher burnout have over 55% of teachers considering leaving the field earlier than planned (Walker, 2022) and few who are looking to join the field (Maxouris & Zdanowicz, 2022). Although the reasons for the growing teacher shortage are complex, there are implications of this study for supporting educators who work at all levels of education.
While most schools returned to in-person, face-to-face instruction at some point in 2021, we know that some of the pivots made during virtual teaching are here to stay. For example, educators report being able to communicate more easily with parents via Zoom, and there is opportunity to prevent disruptions to learning using digital platforms for virtual tutoring and instruction during emergency days (e.g. snow days). To better support teachers before they ever enter the field, teacher preparation programs need to work with preservice teachers to consider beneficial uses of technology for creating supportive classroom communities in equitable ways. In addition, preservice teachers need practice with virtual teaching methods during their coursework and field experiences.
important because of increasing global mobility, digital connections,
and national chauvinism. As students engage with diverse others in
schools and online, they need global, critical, and ethical understandings
of language, literacy, and culture. From a critical cosmopolitan
lens, language and literacy educators guide students to
develop a cosmopolitan worldview; dismantle hierarchies through
reading, writing, and thinking; and take action for justice worldwide.
The purpose of this article is to converge cosmopolitanism, critical
pedagogy, and teacher perceptions to construct a framework for
teaching critical cosmopolitan literacies. The findings suggest five
dimensions of critical cosmopolitan literacies: proximal stance,
reflexive stance, reciprocal stance, responsive stance, and praxis.
Overall, participants held positive views of infusing cosmopolitan
dispositions and global perspectives in their classrooms and
reported success with integrating global literature, structuring discussions
to promote empathy, and implementing inquiry to connect
local and global issues.
There was no one-size-fits all plan that would address each of these 80 unique schools. Instead, we took one page from the National Writing Project who advocates for responsive professional development and recognizes teachers as experts, and another page from the field of project management to initiate local literacy action plans with teams of teacher leaders at each school (Witte et al., 2004; Irvine et al., 2007). The principles that guided our work are TEACHER-centered, namely Teacher-led, Equity and Asset-based, Culturally and Historically responsive,
Evolving over time, and Research-driven. To learn more about the principles that guided our work, see Kerkhoff et al. (2023) article in English Leadership Quarterly.