Understanding Faculty Pushback to an "Urban" Teacher Education Program: A Critical Race Theory Perspective

• In Event: Moscone Center West Roundtable Session 2
  In Roundtable Session: Critical Perspectives on Teacher Preparation Programs and the Faculty Within Them

Abstract

Through the lens of Critical Race Theory, this paper explores university faculty commitment to theoretical and concrete diversity, examined through the story of the development of an urban, embedded, one-year Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) program. In the full paper, we analyze key moments in the program’s development, grounding our analysis in CRT. In this proposal, we analyze initial pushback to the proposed program, specifically through the lens of the property functions of [W]hiteness (Harris, 1993). We offer reflections that may be helpful to other teacher educators and educational leaders, raising questions about who the faculty perceive to be our primary constituents and the highly political nature of our change process.

Authors

• Patricia S. Bills, Oakland University

• Brandelyn L. Tosolt, Northern Kentucky University