Understanding Educators’ Everyday Practices in Out-of-School Learning Contexts: Adaptive Facilitation and Social-Emotional Supports

[摘要] Out-of-school learning (OSL) environments can be important developmental contexts for children and youth. Educators that work in OSL programs play an essential role in facilitating innovative learning experiences and promoting outcomes that OSL is well-positioned to support. This dissertation focuses on understanding the everyday practices of OSL educators through two empirical studies. Study 1 is a mixed methods examination of the in-the-moment facilitation adaptations educators make in museum-based active learning environments. Quantitative analyses of 198 coded video clips showed that educators use adaptive facilitation differently and that the museum context can be designed to encourage adaptive facilitation. Qualitative analyses revealed techniques educators use to adapt their facilitation moves. Study 2 is a qualitative investigation of how 23 experienced afterschool educators describe supporting social and emotional learning (SEL) as well as the top-down and bottom-up influences on their practice. Findings show that educators are adept at catching SEL teachable moments and that directors’ role and approach may relate to how this happens on the ground. Across both studies, findings suggest that OSL educators integrate learning into adult-child interactions, that OSL contexts offer strengths to the educational landscape, and educators are essential to the value of OSL programs. By understanding what OSL educators do well, we can work towards making more of this happen through the policies we create, research we conduct, and practices that we support.

[发布机构] the University of Pittsburgh