Their Eyes Were on the Sparrow: An Interdisciplinary Analysis of a Biracial Preservice Teacher's Experience in a Predominately White Teacher Education Program

• In Event: 25.083 - MTCC Roundtable Session Eight
  In Roundtable Session: 25.083-3 - Teacher Professional, Racial, and Ethnic Identities and High-Needs Schools

Abstract

Responding to Milner & Howard’s (2013) “imperative for teacher education programs to complicate and intensify the utility of race,” this ethnographic case study describes the experiences that inhibit and support a biracial pre-service teacher, named Sparrow (pseudonym) in becoming a teacher. Utilizing an interdisciplinary framework that intersects theories of identity development, student affairs, and teacher education, we examine the course, campus, and community experiences of Sparrow to raise critical questions concerning the support and retention of teachers from diverse and bi-racial communities.

Authors

• Bianca J Nightengale-Lee, Florida Atlantic University

• Shelley Thomas, University of Louisville

• Brandon Joseph, University of Louisville

• Dwayne Compton, University of Louisville