Front Street Pedagogy: A Challenge in Preparing Diverse Teachers for Diverse Students

• In Event: 32.083 - Roundtable Session 12
  In Roundtable Session: 32.083-3 - Culturally Responsive Praxis Across Sites of Education

Abstract

Faculty preparedness to address the needs of students of color in postsecondary spaces is largely neglected in education research. In this paper, the experiences of six Black university students enrolled in a diversity course are explicated to unearth nuanced pedagogical missteps that mediate their engagement and consequently, their development. Undergirded by the principles of critical race theory, while employing qualitative methods, findings reveal that Teacher Candidates of Color (TCCs) exhibit varied forms of resistance to monolithic content that frame minoritized groups in the deficit. When TCCs are involuntarily positioned as cultural informants, Front Street pedagogy is practiced. This paper challenges faculty to reconsider how we engage culturally diverse students to achieve equitable learning opportunities.

Author

• Chelda Smith, Georgia Southern University