Agency by Design Oakland Teacher Fellowship, 2018 - 2019
Agency by Design Oakland is gathering a 2018 - 2019 cohort of Oakland educators to participate in a professional learning community focused on learner-centered practice through maker-centered learning. The core of the experience is teacher action research, in which educators lead their own inquiry cycles, dependent on their interests and students’ needs.
Agency by Design Oakland is the Bay Area-based component of the Agency by Design research project. Agency by Design explores the promises, practices, and pedagogies of maker-centered learning developed by Project Zero, a research center at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Agency by Design Oakland participates in action research and dissemination of research findings through professional development, with a focus on equity and sustainable change. Our priority is to support educators who work with underserved student populations and communities of color.
Throughout the year, Agency by Design Oakland Fellows will delve into the pedagogical framework and instructional strategies of maker-centered learning, as outlined in the book: Maker-Centered Learning: Empowering Young People to Shape Their Worlds. From developing new ways to redirect authority in the classroom—to implementing thinking routines across subject areas—to exploring ways to develop students’ ability to explore the complexity of the world around them—fellows will gain an understanding of how to design for the development of agency. Because these practices are relevant, adaptable, and powerful for all grade levels and disciplines, fellows need not teach in any sort of "maker" classroom." Over the school year fellows will be expected to experiment with their classroom practice and reflect within the learning cohort. Individual teacher inquiries will focus on areas of practice the fellow identifies as core to their own next steps in deepening their practice.
Furthermore, all fellows will share their inquiries and leadership through an end-of-year community event and online presence. Please attend our 2017 - 2018 Fellowship Culminating Event on Saturday, May 5 to learn more! There will be Fellow Ignite Talks, Workshops, and Documentation displays. Check out the Eventbrite page, or our website, for more information and to RSVP.
Details:
This fellowship will take place from June 2018 - May 2019 and is open to all Oakland public school educators, both district and charter. A limited number of Oakland private school educators may also be invited to participate. Program details and the application form are below.
We are still accepting applications through 5 pm, Friday, May 18th. Accepted applicants will be notified by Friday, May 25th. In the case that you are accepted to the program, please plan on attending a 2-hour kick-off to the fellowship before summer break, on Tuesday, May 29th, 4-6 pm, at Oakland International High School, 4521 Webster Street.
For their participation, Fellows will receive a minimum of $800 in additional teacher pay/stipend and have access to one-on-one coaching. For Title 1 schools, a substitute stipend or sub code, for three release days, will be made available. Childcare for after-school meetings is available upon request.
While this application is on an individual basis, we encourage teams of 2-3 educators, which can include coaches and leadership, from the same site to apply in parallel as a site cohort. Agency by Design Oakland is actively seeking school partnerships to cultivate learner-centered practices over time. These partnerships include guaranteed teacher seats in the fellowship, one-on-one and small group coaching, school site professional development, and leadership support. School leadership should contact brooke.toczylowski@ousd.org, Director, Agency by Design Oakland, to talk about your school’s needs, costs, and available grants.
Agency by Design Fellows will commit to:
Attend three full-day study group sessions throughout the school year. A substitute stipend or sub code for all three days will be made available to Title I schools. Dates will be released in early August, 2018.
Attend eight Tuesday after school sessions, roughly once a month, 4:30-6:30. Dates and locations will be released in early August.
Participate in and attend a culminating event showcasing our inquiry work, in May, 2019.
Engage in inquiry related to learner-centered practice and maker-centered learning, experiment within their classroom practice, and reflect and share with the fellows cohort.
Create “Pictures of Practice” documenting inquiry work, with the goal of sharing research with a broader audience, at both the culminating event, and online. Possibilities include: writing a blog post, teaching a workshop, recording a podcast, or doing an ignite talk.
Please read through the Agency by Design Oakland and Agency by Design websites to learn about our work before completing the application.
The application questions are listed below to allow you the opportunity to think through what you hope to gain from this experience. Should you wish to apply for the Fellowship, please submit your answers via Google form using the links below. Applications are due by 5pm on Friday, May 18th.
For returning fellows:
What impact did your previous participation in the fellowship have on you and/or your students?
What ideas or inquiries regarding maker-centered learning are you interested in continuing to explore during a second year of the fellowship?
What are your personal leadership goals within the maker-centered learning landscape? What support might help you reach those goals?
It is important that participants understand the time commitment involved with this experience and that Fellows are expected to attend all of the meetings and sessions listed above in full, in order to get the full experience of the fellowship and build community with the cohort. How do you see this fellowship integrating into your current schedule and workload?
For prospective fellows:
1. Please describe your teaching and learning context, including population demographics, learning needs, community culture, etc.
2. If you already incorporate maker-centered learning into your practice, please tell us how you are doing so.
3. How might your learners benefit from your participation as an Agency by Design Oakland Fellow?
4. What would you hope to gain from the Agency by Design Oakland Fellowship experience?
5. What about maker-centered learning resonates with you as an educator?
6. It is important that participants understand the time commitment involved with this experience and that Fellows are expected to attend all of the meetings and sessions listed above in full, in order to get the full experience of the fellowship and build community with the cohort. How do you see this fellowship integrating into your current schedule and workload?