Bringing Complex Instruction To Science Teachers

Bringing Complex Instruction To Science Teachers

2012 Knowles Teaching Fellows Laura Wang and Camden Hanzlick-Burton, along with 2013 Teaching Fellow Bernice O’Brien and 2014 Teaching Fellow Lauren Kline recognized a need for science teachers across the country to utilize teaching strategies that increased student access to learning. Fellows in these cohorts had previously learned about Complex Instruction at a Knowles Cohort Meeting. Upon looking for additional courses and supports to help with implementation in their classrooms, they were disappointed to find these resources existed only for mathematics. Camden and Laura were awarded a Knowles Seed Grant to extend this work into science, creating a community of educators interested in enacting the practices of Complex Instruction through the development of a Knowles Academy course. To kick off this work, Camden and Laura spent three days planning the course with Knowles Senior Program Officer Michele Cheyne in January 2018. Next, Camden and Laura learned more about Complex Instruction alongside the 2015 Cohort of Knowles Teaching Fellows at their Spring Cohort Meeting. On this same trip to the San Francisco Bay Area, Camden and Laura visited San Francisco International High School, where they observed Complex Instruction in action in biology and chemistry classrooms. In July 2018, Camden and Laura piloted a three-day Knowles Academy course—Establishing an Equitable Classroom Culture: An Introduction to Complex Instruction for Science Teachers—to a group of 12 teachers in Moorestown, New Jersey.