Neurodiversity-Affirming Productive Struggle for Students and Educators

Outline

It is important to note that I am using my dissertation research on neurodivergent educators. This session uses recommendations for how these educators learn best while providing an opportunity to engage in content designed for the classroom.

The presentation will include:

1. Review of session goals and agenda
2. Neurodiversity-affirming professional learning (introduction to theory and recent research)
3. Defining productive struggle (interactive reflection questions about student/teacher engagement)
4. A look at strategic questioning for productive struggle
5. Defining neurodiversity-affirming classrooms (individual/group reflection)
6. Presentation of model lesson to annotate/explore/discuss
7. Reflection of exemplar lesson and guiding principles
8. Attendee creation of a "The Struggle Is Real" activity using guiding principles
9. Reflection of learning

Outcomes

The session goals are:

- to define and understand the process of productive struggle

- to understand how to create neurodiversity-affirming environments for both students and educators

- to connect neurodiversity-affirming environments to the process of productive struggle

- to feel confident in designing activities that are neurodiversity-affirming and incorporate productive struggle

Supporting research

https://www.cultofpedagogy.com/neurodiversity-affirming/
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S3050656525001002
https://pce.sandiego.edu/productive-struggle-in-the-classroom/
https://www.edutopia.org/article/neuroscience-behind-productive-struggle/