This insightful book presents and discusses the dialogues that took place in the New Directions in Middle Level Education Research session at the 2022 Association for Middle Level Education (AMLE) conference.
Carefully crafted and expert-led chapters draw upon four recent studies that were published in Research in Middle Level Education Online, the research journal of AMLE, and which were featured in a roundtable discussion at the 2022 AMLE conference. Each section of the book includes one of the four studies accompanied by two companion pieces offering different perspectives on the work. In the companion essays, the original authors enrich and extend their research by incorporating feedback from the conference session discussions, revisiting their findings and conclusions, considering alternative approaches to further research, and proposing new or clarified implications for practice. The book also comprises contributions from middle level education experts, who offer responses to each study, offering perspectives, critiques, and commentaries. Reflecting the generative, dialogic, knowledge-building process that took place at the AMLE conference, it showcases the collaborative work of middle level researchers who draw ideas and inspiration for their studies from prior research and accounts of practice, as well as their own experiences in the field.
This book is an excellent resource for researchers, doctoral students, and academics in the fields of middle level education, educational research, and research methods in education.
'1. Introduction: Rethinking Responsiveness in Middle Level Education Research. Part I. Teaching Young Adolescents through the Pandemic. 2. Middle Grades Teacher Practices after the COVID-19 Pandemic: Looking Backward and Looking Forward. 3. Middle Grades Teacher Practices during the COVID-19 Pandemic. 4. Learning from the COVID-19 Pandemic: Reimagining Organizational Structures that Support Middle Grades Teacher Practices. Part II. Responsive, Relational Middle Level Leadership. 5. Responsive and Relational Leadership: Recommendations for Middle Level School Leaders. 6. An Analysis of Responsive Middle Level School Leadership Practices: Revisiting the Developmentally Responsive Middle Level Leadership Model. 7. The Importance of Instructional Leadership in the Middle Grades: A Principal’s Perspective. Part III. Personalizing Learning for Young Adolescents. 8. Critical Reflections on Genius Hour as Personalized Learning at the Middle Level. 9. Informing the Implementation of Personalized Learning in the Middle Grades through a School-Wide Genius Hour. 10. Negotiating Possibilities for Personalizing Instruction in the Middle Grades: A Response to Recent Research on the Implementation of Genius Hour. Part IV. Young Adolescents and Civic Action. 11. Revisiting Young Adolescents’ Perceived Barriers to Civic Action. 12. “Who Cares?” Young Adolescents’ Perceived Barriers to Civic Action. 13. Incorporating Mobilizing Strategy and Associationalism into the Civics Curriculum. Part V. Conclusion. 14. Middle Level Teacher Preparation Programming and Practice: Mission Possible, or Mission Impossible?. 15. Exploring New Directions in Middle Level Education Research: Research to Practice.
David C. Virtue is the Taft B. Botner Distinguished Professor of Middle Grades Education at Western Carolina University in the U.S.A.
