Reaching Future Educators Through the Implementation of Antioppression Lessons in K-6 Classrooms

• In Event: Interrogating Whiteness in Multicultural Contexts

Abstract

This paper shares the findings from 39 teacher candidates’(TCs) self-reflections written after the delivery of anti-oppressive lesson plans to students in grades K-6. For the most part, the TCs enrolled in the initial teacher education program at the institution in which this study was conducted complete their fieldwork in predominantly White settings. TCs often do not recognize anti-oppression work as a necessity, particularly when working in predominantly White classrooms. This paper will elaborate on two key themes: first, the ways in which participation in the project deepened TCs understandings of children’s capacity to discuss and relate to oppression. Second, the ways in which the TCs were unable to decenter their privileged social locations.

Author

• Christine L. Cho, Nipissing University