Supporting teachers designing in liminality: Embracing a new and flexible way forward

• Published in: Educational technology research and development Vol. 69; no. 1; pp. 307 - 311
• Main Authors: Galyen, Krista, Meekins, Darryl, Kilgore, Whitney
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer US 01.02.2021; Springer; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Beliefs; College teachers; Constructivism (Learning); Design; Education; Educational Technology; Learning and Instruction; R&D; Research & development; Research and Development; Teachers; Teaching Methods; Shift to digital; Liminal spaces; Instructional design; Online learning
• ISSN: 1042-1629; 1556-6501
• DOI: 10.1007/s11423-020-09923-w

In response to Bennett, Agostinho, & Lockyer's (Educational Technology Research and Development, 65(1), 125–145: 2017) article, The process of designing for learning: understanding university teacher’s design work , we describe a way forward targeting an identified crucial gap in supporting teacher design practice. We argue that society is in a period of liminality (Turner, Betwixt and between: Patterns of masculine and feminine initiation, 3–19: 1987) caused by the current shift to digital. Limited resources, tight timelines, and belief systems questioned require that we revisit conventional approaches to supporting teachers designing in liminality. While teachers in Bennett et al.’s study were from a teaching-related professional organization, the shift-to-digital was not the focus of their research (it was teachers’ design processes), and data came from interviews rather than observations. However, there is strong opportunities for impact and application of their work. The main impact of Bennett et al.’s work is they highlighted the gap between what teachers have and what they need : teachers need a relevant, useful, simple, meaningful, and conceptual approach to guide their design work. This can help designers to rethink how to support teachers through the liminal space of shifting to digital by creating a strategy that teachers can use to guide their work. We argue that we should apply approaches sensitive to the teacher’s state of mind and circumstances of the teacher designing in liminality. We provide a way forward with a guiding questions framework from the lenses of social constructivism, agile mindsets, productive failure, and designing in liminality.