What Does Social Justice Sound Like? Discursive Moves to Prepare Teachers for Diversity

• In Event: 72.064 - Roundtable Session 29
  In Roundtable Session: 72.064-8 - Discursive Moves in Teacher Education

Abstract

Racial disparities exist as the achievement gap, discipline gap, school-to-prison pipeline, and education debt. Given these injustices, it is incumbent upon teacher educators to prepare teachers to take cultural diversity, racial differences, and social justice into consideration. This study identifies pedagogical practices in a teacher education course that supported teacher candidates in developing the fundamental orientation toward cultural diversity and social justice that undergirds culturally responsive teaching. Specifically, a microethnographic approach to discourse analysis illuminates how a teacher educator used language to establish a “safe” space for teacher candidates to take risks and value uncertainty, and to engage students emotionally and cognitively to cultivate their commitment to social justice and serve diverse students.

Author

• Amy Carpenter Ford, Central Michigan University