Developing a Deeper Understanding of Community-Based Pedagogies With Teachers: Learning With and From Teachers in Colombia

TLDR: In this article, the authors present findings from a 9-month qualitative case study involving a school-university professional development inquiry into how teachers develop, implement, and interpret community-based pedagogies (CBPs), an asset-based approach to curriculum that acknowledges mandated standards but begins with recognizing and valuing local knowledge.

Abstract: Here we share findings from a 9-month qualitative case study involving a school–university professional development inquiry into how teachers develop, implement, and interpret community-based pedagogies (CBPs), an asset-based approach to curriculum that acknowledges mandated standards but begins with recognizing and valuing local knowledge. After describing the structure and activities of the professional development project, we focus on the work and perspectives of four teachers at one public school in Bogota. The challenges identified were outweighed by the benefits, including increased student engagement, motivation, family–school involvement, and an appreciation of local knowledge as curriculum resource. In addition to generating rich curriculum exemplars in chemistry, social studies, and language arts, the teachers’ interpretations and enactments of CBPs indicate that CBPs are flexible enough to allow multiple entry points, teacher autonomy, and ownership, and share enough commonalities with other pe...