Participatory Research to Improve PDS Initiatives: Trying-On Problem-Based Pedagogies with High-School Students

For three weeks each June, the authors' PDS hosts a summer program called the Academy for Future Teachers (AFT), serving high school students interested in a teaching career. Partners across the PDS convene to support high-school AFT participants, including master teachers (P-12 teachers from local school districts and university faculty) and PDS teacher candidates at the authors' school, Georgia State University. Researchers join master teachers and PDS teacher candidates' planning and interview high-school AFT participants each year to increase the program's responsivity to their community's needs. They share results from data collected during the previous year at the first planning session each year. This article first describes the Academy for Future Teachers, including the roles of high-school participants, master teachers, and PDS teacher candidates. Next, it outlines the characteristics of a PBL approach, and discusses the methods used in the participatory action research project. Then the results of implementing problem-based pedagogies at AFT are shared. Finally, the article concludes with recommendations for incorporating PBL within PDS initiatives.