Cultivating Teachers of Color as Social Justice Educators: A Case Study of Two Preservice Teachers of Color Co-Learning to Teach in Urban Schools

• In Event: Roundtable Session 26
  In Roundtable Session: Social Justice and the Act of Teaching

Abstract

While teachers of color have the potential to use their lived experiences to challenge racial inequities in schools, very little is known about how they transform their racialized experiences into effective teaching practice. This qualitative study explores the dynamics of learning to teach for social justice by using the case study of two preservice teachers of color co-constructing their learning to teach in an urban school. Findings reveal that learning with a peer of color sustained their justice-oriented approaches to teaching. At the same time, lack of structured guidance throughout changes in participation limited authentic co-learning, suggesting a need for systematic support to encourage, guide, and sustain their identity and pedagogical development as social justice educators.

Author

• Josephine Pham, University of California - Los Angeles