Praxis-Oriented Development: Lessons From an Ethnic Studies Teacher Collective

• In Event: 47.052 - The Power of Ethnic Studies: Impact on Teacher and Curriculum Development

Abstract

We know that Ethnic Studies courses can improve educational experiences and outcomes for historically marginalized students (Sleeter, 2011; Cabrera et al., 2014; Dee & Penner, 2017), however, we know less about the processes and challenges districts/schools face when establishing these courses. The purpose of this paper is to provide an ethnographic portrait of the practices and strategies of an Ethnic Studies Teacher Collective in the San Francisco Bay Area. I conducted a four-year study following ES teachers as they formed a critical teaching community, mobilized to expand ES throughout the district, and worked collaboratively to build ES curricula. This paper is guided by the following research questions:
How do teachers respond to the challenges of developing and implementing Ethnic Studies curricula?
How can we effectively prepare teachers to successfully teach Ethnic Studies?

This study builds upon the literature on Ethnic Studies, Critical, and Equity-based Professional Development frameworks. The limited studies on district-initiated Ethnic Studies PD indicate that content-based support for ES teachers is not enough (Sanders, 2009; Baptiste, 2010). Preparing ES teachers also includes developing one’s critical consciousness (Freire, 1970; Kohli, Picower, Martinez, & Ortiz, 2015; Schniedewind, 2005) and deep identity work (Daus-Magbual, 2010) in addition to strategies for translating content knowledge into lessons. This study demonstrates how teachers led PD to enhance teachers’ ES content knowledge and pedagogy.

Critical ethnographic methods (Carspecken, 1996; Emerson, Fretz, & Shaw, 1995) informed the design of this study. The ES Teacher Collective is a group of ES teachers and university partners dedicated to writing and implementing ES curricula in one school district. Data collection included 210 hours of participant observation of ES Teacher Collective meetings, 145 hours of classroom observation in 6 ninth grade ES classrooms, and 12 semi-structured interviews with high school ES teachers. Data documented challenges and approaches to ES teacher preparation and pedagogy and teachers’ reflections on becoming an ES teacher. Field notes and interview transcripts were organized in Atlas.ti and data was analyzed using a grounded theory approach (Charmaz, 2014). Analysis included line-by-line, open-coding of interview transcripts to reveal prevalent themes (Saldaña, 2009). Themes generated from interviews were triangulated with PD and classroom observation data.

I found that teachers engaged in a process I call Praxis-oriented Professional Development (PPD). I argue that PPD enabled teachers to IDENTIFY and REFLECT on the challenges of institutionalizing ES and played a crucial role in encouraging DIALOGUE, which shaped teachers’ critical consciousness. Specifically, I demonstrate how teachers in the Collective developed a shared understanding of race, power, and privilege. This shared understanding informed their ACTION in collectively leading PD and enhancing their pedagogy. The data shows that as teachers developed their ES teaching identity during PPD, they came to see their role and the curriculum as political.

This paper holds significant implications for teacher education and professional development as schools, districts, and states create policies to develop ES curricula. This study showcases one approach in preparing Ethnic Studies teachers to contribute to an equitable and inclusive public education.

Author

• Jocyl Sacramento, University of California - Berkeley