Diversity study circles in teacher education practice: An experiential learning project

This paper addresses the dilemma of trying to prepare primarily white preservice teachers for educational arenas in which they will interface with students of colour and many who are socially disadvantaged. This paper describes how diversity study circles can be integrated as integral to education that is multicultural in the development of preservice teachers’ critical self-reflection as a bridge to developing a critical lens for classroom practice and a democratic society.     

Power,Penalty, and Critical Praxis: Employing Intersectionality in Educator Practices to Achieve School Equity

Intersectionality describes the ways interlocking systems of oppression, evidenced in various identity facets (e.g., race, class, gender, sexuality, religion, ability, and language), frame individuals' social worlds. An awareness of intersectionality can ensure PreK–12 school policies and practices meet the needs of a student population diversifying rapidly along multiple lines. We situate intersectionality within examples of common schooling dilemmas and pose suggestions for educators to employ intersectional thinking in their practice.     

‘It doesn’t speak to me’: understanding student of color resistance to critical race pedagogy

Scholars maintain that when race and racism are addressed as factors that continue to shape inequality in the classroom, white students often deny the validity of these claims, while Students of Color tend to feel empowered by them. However, drawing on open-ended interviews, focus group discussions, and survey data, we argue that some Students of Color resist critical race pedagogy and curriculum. Specifically, we identify and analyze how this push back is articulated through three triggers: (1) an entrenchment in majoritarian ideologies; (2) a disavowal of racialized oppression; and (3) a disinclination to scrutinize personal experiences marred by race. These dynamics illustrate what we call ‘resisting decolonization’ – a reluctance to grapple with pedagogies that destabilize dominant ideologies about race and racism in schools and disrupt mainstream ideas regarding ethnic or racial identity. We introduce this concept in an attempt to hone critical race pedagogy to better address the needs of Students of Color who sometimes unknowingly participate in the marginalization of Populations of Color through deficit thinking or through the denial of the continuing significance of race.     

Black on black education 2.0: critical race perspectives on personally engaged pedagogy for/by black pre-service teachers

ABSTRACT

Public schools have increasing numbers of its teachers fitting into one demographic, white and female, while the numbers of Black/African American teachers decrease. This trend has not changed since the publication of Black on Black Education: Personally Engaged Pedagogy for/by African American Pre-Service Teachers. Furthermore, African American collegiate students who decide to enter teaching may face a chilly climate because of their cultural and educational experiences as they encounter devaluation in the classroom. This work provides a critical race reflective examination into the teaching and learning experiences and dilemmasI using personally engaged pedagogy as a means of enhancing the quality of the learning experiences for African American pre-service teachers. Critical race theory (CRT) and Critical Race Feminism (CRF) will be used as the theoretical framework for understanding the role of race and gender in teacher education. Critical autoethnography is the methodological approach used to examine the subject phenomenon. Field notes, research journaling, and student memoirs provide data for this critical autoethnography. This work highlights the significance of CRT/CRF’s unique voice of color and CRF’s multidimensionality to engaged pedagogy, creating a personally engaged pedagogy.     

From Rhymes to Resistance: Hip-Hop as a Critical Lens in Promoting Socially Just Teaching

If an educator is to take a critical stance, teach students to do the same, and design lessons that engage students in thoughtful discussions and actions surrounding issues of social justice, then discussions of politics, race, culture, economics and systems of power are crucial to this work, and, the use of hip-hop is a worthwhile endeavour. In this article, three educators from very diverse backgrounds who have experiences at elementary and college levels, consider the ways in which hip-hop music and culture speaks to the lived experiences of students and has the potential to lend a voice to the seemingly voiceless while also meeting the demands imposed by mandated standards. Within the framework of critical pedagogy/critical consciousness, we discuss hip-hop pedagogy as a channel for capitalising on students’ lived experiences.     

Women,capitalism and education: On the pedagogical implications of postfeminism

Abstract

We examine the emergence of the ‘postfeminist’ sensibility from feminist theory and praxis, and its relation and relevance to education. Analytical frameworks such as postfeminism and intersectionality have given equal weight to recognition-based struggles, such as those based on sexual, racial, class-based, gender-related identities. We follow Nancy Fraser’s argument that these identity-based movements have been co-opted by neoliberal politicians and bureaucratic policy-makers, and become a divide and rule strategy, neglecting the subjugating power of capital. Beginning with third-wave feminism’s emphasis on individual identity, women’s struggles have been become a part of the greater parisitic neoliberal project. We consider the implications of this docile and domesticated feminism for the education of women.     

Developing a critical consciousness of race in place-based environmental education: Franco’s story

Environmental education (EE) has a history of support for critical place-based pedagogy as a means of learning through engagement in space, both cultural and biophysical. In this paper I tell the story of how Franco – a non-white, non-American undergraduate – engaged with local discourses in a watershed-focused EE program in the rural Midwestern US. I examine how the five tenets of critical race theory (CRT) can be used to interpret Franco’s experience, where he encountered multiple instances of racism and xenophobia. I argue that without a critical analysis of race in place-based EE programs, instructors may (a) privilege their own ways of knowing in local settings, (b) rely on ‘grit’ narratives as mechanisms for mediation of racism, and (c) send non-white students home having learned that they cannot effect meaningful change for sustainability. I conclude with recommendations for faculty in predominantly white institutions on how CRT might foster the development of critical consciousness of race in place-based EE programs.     

Disciplining Dalmar: a demand to uncover racism and racialization in pursuit of culturally relevant pedagogy

The need for multifaceted analyses of the relationships between how the United States acknowledges racism and how schooling can be structured to mitigate its negative impacts has never been greater, especially given rising attention to the racial “achievement gap.” In suburban, elite Pioneer City, a series of initiatives I will refer to as “the transformation” aimed to eliminate racial disparities in educational achievement through simultaneous efforts to redistribute students from a racially and economically isolated elementary school and train all district staff in a particular brand of culturally relevant pedagogy. This paper draws from a larger yearlong study in which I used critical ethnographic methods to explore tensions between a goal of systemic change and reproductive forces at play in Pioneer City Schools. Focusing on one third-grade student, I offer insights into how the school district’s equity-minded policy changes find their way into one classroom, both reflecting and complicating preexisting ways of viewing the role of race in young children’s lives.     

Racially liberatory pedagogy: a Black Lives Matter approach to education

Abstract

In this study, we sought to understand how Black lives matter (BLM) epistemology, as displayed through six months of social media content from official accounts, can inform a racially liberatory pedagogy in higher education for Black and other racially minoritized students. We found BLM, through Facebook and Twitter, situated intersectional Black culture in the contemporary struggle for liberation. BLM also offered information that can raise its followers’ intersectional critical consciousness. Additionally, BLM content highlighted actions that can support Black liberation. Lastly, BLM content supported the building of relationships and naming of emotions as Black people work toward their liberation. In this sense, BLM connected with elements of a racially liberatory pedagogy and offered nuances that advanced the framework. We discuss the implications of this framework for teaching in higher education.     

Using cultural historical activity theory to uncover praxis for inclusive education

This paper explores ways in which cultural historical activity theory (CHAT) provides a useful framework for examination of reflection and action during inclusive education fieldwork. Deeper understanding of combined reflection and action – praxis – is needed for researchers and teacher educators to support teacher candidates’ implementation of inclusive practices. We present a framework that includes core components of CHAT and potential insights these elements can bring to describing, analysing, or facilitating praxis during fieldwork. In particular, we discuss affordances of identifying activity systems, examining tool appropriation, and discovering tensions in teacher fieldwork. Examples based on evidence from two studies applying a CHAT lens to inclusive education fieldwork are embedded throughout the paper to illustrate the utility of this approach.     

Transformative praxis in teacher practice: one tauira finds her place in education

This paper reports on an initial teacher education programme that has been designed to facilitate and support Māori student teachers in New Zealand. This paper highlights the ambiguity in New Zealand on the theoretical foundation of initial teacher education. Therefore a background on transformative praxis and how it has impacted on the education system of New Zealand is first presented. Then the tauira’s (student teacher’s) narrative is presented which has been informed by two years of a Te Ao Māori (Māori worldview) programme. The programme was built upon critical theory to facilitate transformative praxis in student teachers. Specifically, this narrative was a vehicle for how her own past in mainstream education and the programme has impacted upon how she sees teaching and being the teacher. The paper highlights the positive impact a culturally responsive programme can have on the self‐efficacy of marginalised members of society.     

Dialogic feedback as divergent assessment for learning: an ecological approach to teacher professional development

Neoliberal policy objectives perpetuate an audit culture at both school and system levels. The associated focus on performativity and accountability can result in reductive and procedural interpretations of classroom assessment for learning (AfL) practices. Set in a New Zealand AfL professional development context, this research takes an ecological view of teacher learning as a ground-up approach to improving practice. As a framework, this paper brings together an intersubjective conception of professional learning that positions teachers as co-leaders, principles inherent in ‘the spirit of AfL’, and the notion of ‘intelligent accountability’ to illustrate evidence-informed teacher agency. It applies divergent and dialogic AfL practices to professional learning that can enable teachers to connect with issues that are most relevant to their practice. Dialogic feedback practices of this nature position teachers as capable, reflexive and resourceful practitioners and decision-makers.     

Teaching Through Testimonio: Accessing Community Cultural Wealth in School

Using the concept of community cultural wealth, this article examines the ways that a group of 3rd-grade students engaged in writing testimonios, or personal narratives, to reflect on their cultural and linguistic lives in and outside of the classroom. Countering deficit notions of Latina/o students, families, and communities, this study illuminates the powerful ways that students utilize various forms of community cultural wealth. The findings indicate that testimonio can be an effective pedagogical tool to help students identify their individual and collective community cultural wealth and draw on these forms of knowledge in the elementary classroom.     

Critical Race Theory and Counselor Education Pedagogy: Creating Equitable Training

Infusing critical race theory, the authors discuss specific pedagogical strategies to enhance educational experiences of counselor trainees. The authors then provide an evaluative checklist to facilitate and evaluate curricular integration of critical race theory.     

Constructing a High-Stakes Community in the Classroom: A Case Study of One Urban Middle-School Teacher

Abstract

A teacher at an urban middle school worked to become part of her students’ communities and utilized the notion of community within her pedagogy. Her example offers hope that engaging with students’ communities and building community within the classroom are attainable and valuable goals. Her example also demonstrates that the concept of community can be relevant and powerful within a testing-focused environment that traditionally fosters competition and privileges the individual.     

Teachers’ professional identity: Contributions of a critical EFL teacher education course in Iran

This paper is a report on contributions of a critical EFL (English as a Foreign Language) teacher education course to Iranian teachers’ professional identity reconstruction.² Pre-course and post-course interviews with seven teachers, their reflective journals, class discussions, and the teacher educator’s reflective journals were analyzed as guided by grounded theory. Three major shifts were observed in their professional identities: from conformity to and romanticization of dominant ideologies to critical autonomy, from no orientation or an instrumentalist orientation to a critical/transformative orientation of teaching, and from a linguistic and technical view to an educational view of second language education.     

Theoretical,Political, and Pedagogical Challenges in the Feminist Classroom: Our Struggles to Walk the Walk

Abstract

The authors explore both theoretical issues in feminist pedagogy and the politics of the contemporary university classroom. They examine various intersections of gender, power, pedagogical theory, and academic discipline in order to bring greater attention to the struggle many teachers face in “walking the walk” as feminist teachers.     

Self-fulfilling prophecy not: using cultural assets to beat the odds

In this study, the pedagogies of the home used by Latinos as they attend schools in the USA are highlighted. We hope to use the stories of Arturo and Ruben, successful Latinos, as a means to show that Latinos are developing strategies that can be shared through the telling of their stories and to claim the value of voicing the difficult realities of Latinos as they resist falling victim to anticipated self-fulfilling prophecies and move creatively through the educational pipeline to reach their best defined possible selves.     

Contracting race: writing,racism, and education

This article presents the main terms of the racial contract, as they appear in the subcontracts of Mills’ theory, such as the spatial, epistemological, cognitive subcontracts. It is important to keep in mind that these subcontracts are by no means separate and represent analytical moments of the main contract. Furthermore, other than its institutional form, education is not a separate sphere from the racial contract. Finally, I end with the racial contract’s gaps to determine the possibility of its own demise, which requires the active signing off from the terms of the contract. That is, I sketch ideas about ways to counteract (i.e., counter-write) the racial contract as part of a corrective to the history that interpellates people of color as its targets. Both Whites and people of color have a stake in the rewriting of the contract, where in the end they are imagined as neither Black nor White but free. In this last portion, I spend some text on what Whites’ role may look like in signing off the contract, such as the case of white ‘race traitors’ within the white abolitionist proposal, recast as the ‘epistemological traitor’ in education.     

The Anti-Black Order of No Child Left Behind: Using Lacanian psychoanalysis and critical race theory to examine NCLB

During a period in which institutions have been refashioned to meet the demands of a complex social and political economy, the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) has helped to alter the public educational system. As scholars and researchers examine the material effects of NCLB, efforts to improve the educational system and its effects must also explore the relationship between policy and racial ideologies including discursive fantasies. This article examines the relationship between NCLB and racial fantasies of Black youth as problematic others in order to help education reform scholarship and advocacy examine the violence of NCLB.