Preparing to Teach for Social Justice Through Participation in Intergroup Dialogue

• In Event: 66.030 - Multiple Meanings of "Education for Social Justice": From Knowledge to Practice in an Urban District

Abstract

How do we best prepare future educators to teach for social justice? What kinds of pedagogies are helpful in supporting pre-service teachers develop into social justice educators? Using data from a case study of the effects of intergroup dialogue on a cohort of pre-service teachers, this study contributes to understandings of how schools of education can prepare future teachers to teach for social justice in urban schools.
Intergroup dialogues are purposefully structured in composition and content, and take place over time to develop trust and enable sustained communication (Zúñiga, Nagda, & Sevig, 2002). Dialogue allows members to engage in authentic inter and intragroup contact with one another, which leads to critical engagement around issues related to structural inequality. The face-to-face component of intergroup dialogue is important, because although we live in a diverse society, we do not often engage that diversity in authentic ways in the pursuit of democracy and social justice. Intergroup dialogues in teacher education programs may prepare pre-service teachers for work in urban schools by providing opportunities for critically reflection of their social identities, and explore other manifestations of asymmetrical power relations of domination and subordination (Apfelbaum, 1979). Intergroup dialogue participants report increased thinking about social group membership, develop their ability to perspective take, feel more comfortable communicating with those that are different from them, and are more interested in building bridges with those that are different from themselves (Nagda & Zúñiga, 2003). The aforementioned elements are all important for teachers to have as they work in schools with students who deserve and need teachers to employ a critical, reflective praxis, and social justice orientation. This study contributes to understandings of how intergroup dialogue may help prepare pre-service educators prepare themselves to teach for social justice.
Participants in this study were pre-service teachers enrolled at a large, public, west coast university. Participants engaged in an intergroup dialogue as part of their teacher education coursework. Data collection methods included analysis of written reflections from participants collected throughout their dialogue experience, a final reflection paper regarding their dialogue experience, written reflections from their observations in the field, and interviews with each participant six months after their intergroup dialogue experience. Results suggest that participation in dialogue sharpened participants’ commitment to teaching for social justice and identifying as a social justice educator; however, participants also reported feelings of frustration with the disconnect between dialogue and student teaching. This research is significant in that it speaks to the complexities of preparing teachers to teach for social justice in a rapidly changing world. Thus, the findings of this study may offer teacher education a framework and method for preparing teachers to teach for social justice in their professional lives.

Author

• Andrea C. Rodriguez-Minkoff, Chapman University