An equity orientation is twofold on a Studio Day. As always, focusing on equity and justice in classroom science teaching needs to be front and center. Yet a Studio also adds a layer of sharing an instructional space and practice with other educators, which is uncommon in U.S. schooling structures. Here, equity also needs to be considered among adult participants in the Studio with an eye toward relationality, positionality, and how agency and power are shared.

Questions to consider for a Studio Day:

• How can we keep equity and justice at the center of the Studio’s instructional work?
• What relational and power dynamics need to be considered and navigated among adults who participate? 
• If multiple kinds of roles are interacting (teachers, administrators, university partners), how can we establish clear expectations and practices for generative collaboration in a sometimes messy space?
• What forms of power should the “host” teacher of a Studio retain? What forms of power should be distributed, and in what ways?

Check out the University of Washington’s write-up on Studio Days and their role within a Networked Improvement Community of schools.

Story Developed by Alissa Berg-

I worked in the 3rd largest school district in the country and now an 18-school district in the suburbs just north of the city.

Problem: Professional Learning that transforms educator practice-
We used the Studio Day model coupled with bi-weekly coaching and reading research-based articles and Primers (e.g., AST Discourse Primer), and high-quality curriculum materials (OpenSciEd). Educators were finding a lack of engagement in their classrooms that they wanted to address, upon unpacking what they mean by “engagement” and exploring responses to student experience surveys, they decided to delve into best practices for equitable discourse. Through the studio day model educators were exposed to specific approaches their colleagues were taking to move equitable discourse forward and that experience, coupled with 1-1 coaching led them to experiment with new things (e.g., hands-free discussions, student discussion facilitators, equity of voice discussion trackers, etc.)

When I ask educators what was the most impactful part of the PLC many of them point to the studio days.

• Research article on a school team’s longitudinal use of Studios: Shim, S-Y., & Thompson, J. (2022). Four years of collaboration in a professional learning community: Shifting toward supporting students’ epistemic practices. Science Education, 106(3), 674-705.
• Research article involving Studios as part of how teams of secondary science teachers launched into shared improvement work: Thompson, J., Richards, J., Shim, S-Y., Lohwasser, K., Von Esch, K. S., Chew, C., Sjoberg, B., & Morris, A. (2019). Launching networked PLCs: Footholds into creating and improving knowledge of ambitious and equitable teaching practices in an RPP. AERA Open, 5(3), 1-22.
• Research article about a school team improving modeling over time. Thompson, J., Hagenah, S., Barchenger, C, & McDonald, S (2019). Improving Model-based Instructional Practices and Tools with a Professional Learning Community. Science Education. 103(6), 1423-1455.
• Additional theories of teacher learning with Studios
  • Elliott, R.; Roberts, S.A. (2024). Studio as a Catalyst for Incremental and Ambitious Teacher Learning. Educ. Sci. 14, 1160. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci14111160
  • Lynsey K. Gibbons, Hannah Jane Nieman (2024). Examining the facilitation of generative teacher workgroup conversations, Teaching and Teacher Education,142. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2024.104524.
  • Esch, Kerry & Kavanagh, Sarah. (2017). Preparing Mainstream Classroom Teachers of English Learner Students: Grounding Practice-Based Designs for Teacher Learning in Theories of Adaptive Expertise Development. Journal of Teacher Education. 69. 10.1177/0022487117717467. (in at Teacher Ed context)