Browsing by Author "Liu, Laura"

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    Community Engaged Research as Relationship Building: Multilingual Parent Funds of Knowledge Stories
    (2023) Liu, Laura; IUPUC Education
    This study examines the cultural and linguistic funds of knowledge (Moll, Amanti, Neff, & González, 1992; Moll, 2019) of multilingual families shared by parent authors in bilingual children’s books integrated into culturally responsive pedagogy (Ladson-Billings, 1995, 2014) shared in formal and informal learning contexts -- including elementary schools, public libraries and parks, teacher education university courses, and digital platforms. This study practices community-engaged research in which the experiences and perspectives of participants and researchers shaped how data was collected, understood, and shared with others (Bay & Swacha, 2020). Parent authors were invited to partner in generating, reflecting on, and sharing stories as educational community experiences, and as part of a study focused on fostering appreciation, understanding, and preservation of cultural and linguistic heritages as a significant aim in in our multicultural, multilingual world. As part of this, the study supports teachers, schools, and community stakeholders in including diverse languaging features (García, 2009) in curricula and instruction. Community engaged research highlights the complexities of the human experience and results in a valuable outcome beyond quantifiable data: community relationships. This collaborative inquiry into the development and sharing of multilingual parent books revealed relationship building as an artistic, authentic, and humanizing practice of bridge-building.
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    Placemaking Curricula in Teacher Preparation: Bridging State Standards and Local Expertise
    (Prescott College, 2022-05) Liu, Laura; IUPUC Education
    This study examined how placemaking curricula shaped teacher candidate (candidate) knowledge, dispositions, and skills to understand, appreciate, and sustain local diversity, as evidenced through candidate reflections and products created in an elementary teacher education course integrating civic science concepts and practices into elementary classrooms. This study explored how placemaking curricula engaged community stakeholders in meaningful shared inquiry on real-world challenges, while meeting state science education standards. Placemaking inquiry projects developed by candidates focused on soil and water conservation, and sustaining diversity in schoolyard spaces. Curricula engaged candidates in learning soil and water conservation techniques from local farmers and conservation leaders, then developing and sharing co-authored civic science children’s books on conservation topics aligned to grade-level standards. As further placemaking curricula, candidates partnered with elementary teachers and students to guide schoolyard observations, designs, and models constructed to sustain diverse abilities, cultures, and ecologies. Presentations to parents and peers celebrated shared insights.