Advancing the Social Justice Agenda in Elementary and Secondary Schools by Preparing Candidates of Color as Culturally Responsive Teachers

• In Event: Keeping the Vision in Changing Times: Preparing Teachers With Commitments to Equity and Social Justice

Abstract

Purpose/Theoretical Framework

Over the past three decades P-12 schools have enrolled an increasing number of students who are poor, of racial/ethnic minority backgrounds, and English language learners (Children’s Defense Fund, 2008; NCES, 2009). Historically, schools have not succeeded in educating these student on par with their more affluent, White, native English speaking peers (KewalRamani, Gilbertson, Fox, & Porvanik, 2007). To improve the academic attainment and life chances of students from non-dominant backgrounds, schools need teachers committed to teaching for social justice. Such teachers are especially needed in the current education climate, which emphasizes high-stakes testing and mandated curricula—practices that render schools hostile to teaching for social justice (Picower, 2011). Because people of color have experienced inequities in schools and society and tend to be familiar with the everyday lives of students of color, recruiting teachers from minority groups and preparing them as culturally responsive educators holds promise for advancing the social justice agenda in schools. Despite this and other compelling reasons for increasing the diversity of the teaching force, programs of teacher education at predominantly White institutions (PWIs) have been slow to adapt their curricula to take into account the unique knowledge and experiences teacher candidates of color bring to teaching (Montecinos, 2004; Villegas & Davis, 2008). Thus, preservice teachers of color are left to figure out on their own how best to use their insiders’ experiences as members of minority groups to shape their pedagogy and define their roles as teachers. The purpose of this paper is to develop a curricular vision responsive to candidates of color in teacher education.

Data Sources/Methods

For the purposes of this paper, we searched library databases to identify studies about the motives people of color give for entering teaching, the experiences of candidates of color in teacher education, and the practices of successful teachers of color. Building on our analysis of this literature and using the framework for preparing culturally responsive teachers developed by Villegas and Lucas (2002), we identified core elements in the teacher education curriculum designed to capitalize on the strengths people of color bring to teaching, while addressing their needs.

Results

We found that to prepare candidates of color to maximize their contributions to teaching and teaching for social justice, the teacher education curriculum must be informed by a conception of learning that makes explicit the connections between culture and pedagogy. The curriculum also must extend beyond sociocultural consciousness and affirming views of diversity (areas emphasized in programs of multicultural teacher education based largely on the needs of White teacher candidates) and give focused attention to skills teachers need to confront inequities built into customary school practices. While all teachers benefit from those skills, they are especially important to teachers of color because they are more apt to teach in impoverished settings with large concentrations of oppressed minority students than their White counterparts. We also found that to actively engage candidates of color in teacher education programs at PWIs, a safe environment conducive to critical dialogue is essential.

Authors

• Ana Maria Villegas, Montclair State University

• Gail M. Perry-Ryder, Montclair State University doctoral student