Learning to Embody Antioppressive Education Characteristics Through a Yearlong Critical Multicultural Professional Development Seminar

• In Event: 26.079 - Roundtable Session 7
  In Roundtable Session: 26.079-10 - Learning From Differences in Professional Development

Abstract

Too often, professional development (PD) sessions for educators are one-shot, discrete, one-direction events designed to inform participants of their responsibilities to implement district, state, or federal mandates. In the current study, a yearlong seminar on critical multicultural education examined the following question: How do K-12 educators in a racially diverse suburban school district describe and understand the impact, if any, of a yearlong critical multicultural professional development seminar on their pedagogy and practice? Utilizing Kumashiro’s (2000) anti-oppressive education framework for analysis, findings suggest an educators’ ability to implement quality instruction and build effective relationships with students is shaped by their ability to critically reflect on how their social location shapes their beliefs about students and their academic capabilities.

Authors

• Dorinda Carter Andrews, Michigan State University

• Tuesda Roberts, University of Pittsburgh

• Sakeena Everett, University of Illinois at Chicago