Tuned-In Teaching: Centering Youth Culture for an Active and Just Classroom

Does your classroom ever feel stuck, or out-of-tune?

Meaningful teaching is something educators strive for each day. Educators also know that there is no such thing as a perfect classroom. Despite our best intentions, our classrooms sometimes feel like they’re stuck, or out of tune.

In Tuned-in Teaching, Antero Garcia and Ernest Morrell offer a road map for creating a classroom that is transformative for your students and revitalizing for you. They explain why students play an integral role in turning classrooms into spaces for greater engagement and innovation. By tuning in to youth culture and the lives of students, we become more connected to their needs and ways of learning.

Build an active, just, and engaging classroom with students

The authors examine critical research and discuss the connection to specific aspects of teaching. They also offer six important considerations for teachers who want to build more active, just, and tuned-in learning environments:

Students at the Center How are you ensuring you are fully seeing who your students are? Authenticity as a Standard How do students’ interests and expertise get to shine? Get in Touch with Student’s Digital Lives How can technology be used meaningfully in your instruction? Keep It Playful How is student curiosity cultivated in your classroom? Center Action Who are the audiences your students communicate with? Put It All Together How do you assess learning in your classroom?

This book is an invitation to learn and grow alongside the suggestions and research presented. It offers guidance for more meaningful teaching in the present, and critical pedagogy for transforming classrooms for the societies of the future.