ABSTRACT
Drawing on three concrete cases of work with students, the authors of this chapter explore three key strands of the opportunities for learning (OfL) model presented in Chapter 1 and consider the implications of these explorations for coconstructing students’ OfL. First, the authors examine Strand I of the OfL model—the impact of “knowledge of students and their worlds as learners”—as they share and interrogate the case of Deng, a fifth-grade English learner. Second, the authors examine Strand II of the OfL model—“knowledge of ourselves and our worlds as teachers”—as they unpack the case of two white teachers and the evolution of their thinking about working with children from nondominant backgrounds. Finally, the authors consider Strand III of the OfL model—“knowledge of literacy as a context-embedded social practice”—as they explore and critique the case of a sixth-grade student, Max, playing the video game Kingdom Hearts.
