Teachers for Social Justice: The Promise of Transformative Expectations for Urban Latina/o Youth

• In Event: 68.060 - Roundtable Session 29
  In Roundtable Session: 68.060-18 - Perspectives on Teacher Identities, Language, and Empowerment

Abstract

This qualitative study explores the expectancy effects of nine classroom teachers across five schools in Southern California working to increase the educational opportunities of urban Latina/o students. Drawing on the concept of transformative expectations, which refers to the instructional practices that demonstrate teachers’ belief systems for the educational justice and empowerment of Latina/o youth. Some of the key findings of this study point to the importance of lived and institutional experiences in the development of social justice expectations, as well as existing re-conceptualizations of academic rigor, social capital, empowering curriculum, and teacher caring. Teachers reported these four important manifestations of expectations as strategies to bring social justice to the classroom, prompting discussions on the future of teacher education.

Authors

• Leticia Rojas, Brandman University

• Daniel D Liou, Arizona State University