November 16, 2021
College of Education's Clark leads doctoral program candidates, graduates in presentations at national conference
Several doctoral students and recent graduates of Kansas State University's College of Education, led by J. Spencer Clark, an associate professor, presented at the American Educational Studies Association's national conference Nov. 3-7 in Portland, Oregon. The theme for this year's conference was "In Search of Educational Liberation."
Clark chaired a session on "Revitalizing Community and Healing Learners: Liberatory Practices, Curriculum, and Partnerships." Organized by Rachael Smith, it included Joseph Lynch, Latania Marr y Ortega, Shabina Kavimandan, Graciela Berumen and Stacy Smith, all of K-State. Each shared their dissertation work and the areas in which their topics overlapped in relation to the session theme.
Andrew Louis Kipp and Clark, both of K-State, and Kent Muyskens, USD 231 Gardner Edgerton, presented on "Teaching to Blank Screens: A duo ethnographic approach to understanding teacher agency during COVID-19." This study documented Kipp and Muysken's experience in Fall 2020 and their hybrid and online teaching experience.
Lynch also presented on "The Empirical Apocalypse: How chaos and agency are navigated through autoethnographic study of trans-disciplinary explorations." In this session, Lynch theorized a distinct form of autoethnography for educators, which was the subject of his dissertation.
"It was especially rewarding to experience the K-State COE doctoral candidates' and graduates' participation in a national conference, after having helped mentor them through the doctoral program at K-State," Clark said. "They were able to share their expertise to engage in a national conversation, and they were great representatives of the College of Education."