How “Time” Shapes Teacher Learning Experiences

Dr. Jennifer Reichel:

The final piece, when the research came to be there was this consistent conversation and the use of the word time. And when the participants in my research talked about time, they talked about it in two ways. They wanted folks to be or presenters, facilitators, consultants who are leading learning experiences both to honor the idea that time is a valuable commodity and oh, I’m so sorry, Antoinette, thank you that it’s important to value the parameters that you put around time, but also to be mindful of the language that they use. And so the three bullet points I have here, they wanted dedicated sustained time to process, which includes meaningful discourse that’s aligned to their day-to-day experiences, which again connects with making sure that folks are in role alike, subject alike, something where that discourse can be meaningful and applicable to tomorrow or within the next week.

They wanted opportunities to share their expertise and offer mentorship. And the piece that really was interesting to me and that I’m eager to do more research about is time related coded language, thinking about time as a commodity and that power related transactional language. Oftentimes when there is somebody who’s leading learning and they use language that is, I’m going to give you, I’m going to gift you some time, I’m going to allow, creates a pretty significant power dynamic that was recognized particularly by those mid-career teachers. And it made them aware of when they were able to truly engage in the experience and when they felt a significant disconnect.