Embracing, Reframing, and/or Resisting for the Public Good: Justice-Oriented Teachers' Approaches to the Common Core

• In Event: Poster Session 8
  In Poster Session: Division K Section 4 Poster Session

Abstract

Emphases on high stakes testing and accountability often conflict with teachers’ social justice leanings, and require teachers to negotiate what and how they want to teach within the context of their individual school settings. In this paper, we use data from a recent qualitative study of the justice-oriented approaches of veteran social studies teachers to illustrate curricular, pedagogical, and philosophical responses to the Common Core State Standards. Our analysis revealed that teachers shift between stances of embracing, reframing, or resisting the standards, and that these stances manifest themselves in both their curricular and pedagogical practices. We conclude with a discussion of implications for teacher educators, as we prepare teacher candidates to enact justice within and despite increasingly regulated contexts.

Authors

• Nick Henning, California State University - Fullerton

• Ruchi Agarwal-Rangnath, San Francisco State University

• Alison G Dover, Northeastern Illinois University