Using Self-Love to Liberate Teacher Education Programs: An Autoethnography of Returning Home

• In Event: Before We Were Whole: (Re)Membering Our Lives in Ghana, West Africa

Abstract

“I love myself.' the quietest. simplest. most powerful. revolution. ever.” –Nayyirah Waheed.

Much of the literature on how teacher education programs (TEPs) promote social justice centers on teacher candidates’ coursework and field placement, with little attention on the role of teacher educators. Despite Cochran-Smith’s (2003) call over a decade ago, for more systematic research on what teacher educators need to know in order to develop justice-minded candidates, little work has been done in this area. The proposed study extends the paucity of literature by examining how self-love among teacher educators can be used as a practical and political tool to develop justice-oriented teacher candidates.

Author

• Shanyce L. Campbell, University of Pittsburgh