Preservice Teachers' Critical Reflections on Rehearsing and Teaching Racial Dialogue Lessons

• In Event: 35.078 - MTCC Roundtable Session 14
  In Roundtable Session: 35.078-3 - Field Experiences That Foster Culturally Relevant Educators

Abstract

This study explores what preservice teachers learn about teaching, students, and themselves as they participate in a combined course and field placement centered on teaching high school students lessons on racism and intercultural dialogue. Thematic analysis, from a critical reflection lens, of thirteen preservice teachers’ journal entry reflections showed how the preservice teachers participated in critical reflection as a result of participating in microteaching at the university and teaching the lessons at the high school. The preservice teachers primarily focused on process, particularly around the use of time, space, and talk, with more limited focus on what counts as student learning and how to enact change. This study may suggest a developmental trajectory for learning to enact social justice pedagogy.

Authors

• Jennifer Lynn VanDerHeide, Michigan State University

• Donna Rich Kaplowitz, Michigan State University