From Roots to Leaves: The Connection Between Teacher Ideology and Critical Curriculum

• In Event: 63.058 - Reassessments of Power, Ideologies, and Praxis: Toward a More Critical Elementary Education

Abstract

Objectives and Research Questions
Social justice curriculum must be developed by teachers who either come with critically conscious understandings of oppression and resistance, or whose ideology have transformed within teacher education. Without the roots of dispositions toward social justice, teachers may attempt to replicate “social justice” projects, only to reproduce stereotypes or reinforce racist ideologies. With roots grounded in an understanding of education as a vehicle for liberation, social justice teachers must learn about their students, their communities and the content of their disciplines. This study sought to unearth the connections between teachers’ ideological understandings and the curriculum they created.

Theory
A major theme in social justice education (SJE) is that the role of the teacher is to challenge inequality and work toward a more democratic society (Freire, 1970; Ayers, 1998). The SJE literature provides an understanding of the need for such approaches (Delpit, 2006; Kozol, 1992; Valenzuela, 1999); the purposes behind them (Freire, 2000; Giroux, 1988); teachers who exhibit such characteristics (Catone, 2017; Duncan-Andrade & Morrell, 2008; Ladson-Billings, 1994; Nieto, 2003); various frameworks for these approaches (Banks, 1996; Grant, C. A., & Sleeter, 2002; Picower, 2012), or words of wisdom from people who have done it (Camangian, Ayers, Quinn, & Stovall, 2008; Salas, 2004; Schultz, 2008). However, because it is an ideology, a process and specific content, teacher educators dedicated to preparing teachers to teach toward justice must help aspiring teachers to develop both their ideology, or world view, their understandings of their students and the communities in which they teach, and the development of critical curriculum that is informed by and responsive to both of these things.

Methods/Sources
The recruited participants were pre-service and cooperating teachers in an elementary urban teacher residency program. Data was collected from coursework from a year-long social justice and curriculum design course. Data included periodic reflections, a racial autobiography, and curricular projects that they planned and taught. All data were analyzed using grounded theory, allowing the data to inform the analysis, rather than forcing it into a priori categories (Glaser, 2011).

Findings and Significance
The findings from this study demonstrated there is a connection between teacher ideology and their ability to develop critical curriculum. In preparing social justice teachers, it is necessary to support them to investigate and transform their “roots”- or core beliefs. Once this has been established, such teachers need to be supported to learn about and explore the issues facing students and their communities, and then to embed this lens and content into the process of curriculum design. These are key skills that teacher educators must address within their classes to support the development of social justice educators.

Author

• Bree Picower, Montclair State University