Centering Student Voice Through Disciplinary Counterstories: A Case for Critical Race Teacher Professional Development

• In Event: 14.030 - Social Justice: Giving Students a Voice

Abstract

Using a Critical Race Theory (CRT) framework and counterstorytelling, this paper highlights a case study of teacher PD centered around the narratives of middle school students of color who were negatively impacted by top-down, deficit approaches to discipline. Led by a teacher of color who received training in CRT frameworks and applications for racial justice work in schools, this PD set out to transform teachers’ deficient assumptions about students of color through a self-reflective practice grounded in the experiences of those students. The goal of this paper is to discuss teacher driven, student-centered CRT teacher professional development (CRTPD) as a means to dismantle and reframe assumptions about low academic achievement, behavior, and status for students of color.

Authors

• Rita Kohli, University of California - Riverside

• Josephine Pham, California State University - Fullerton