Confronting Myths in Teacher Education Policy and Practice: An Interdisciplinary Collective Approach

• In Event: 68.060 - Roundtable Session 29
  In Roundtable Session: 68.060-13 - Disrupting Commodification and Privatization: Critical Examinations of Policies That Reify Education Inequities

Abstract

In response to an intensifying crisis in university-based teacher education around the world, scholars suggest that educators engage in policy-relevant research, focus on professional preparation rooted in practice, or strengthen partnerships with other fields. These proposals, however, do little to address the growing neoliberalization of teacher education. This analysis draws on the conceptual framework of political myths (Edelman, 1998) and the methodological tools of critical policy analysis to unmask the narratives that external and internal agents use in teacher education policy. The authors call for teacher educators and researchers to collectively engage with alternative narrative structures, so that a more democratic, emancipatory, and just teacher education can expand educational opportunities for all.

Authors

• Elena Aydarova, Arizona State University

• Mildred Boveda, Arizona State University - Tempe

• Blanca Caldas, University of Minnesota - Twin Cities

• Nini Hayes, Western Washington University

• Connor Warner, University of Missouri - Kansas City