Reenvisioning Racial Justice and Equity in Teacher Education From the Perspectives of Preservice Teachers

• In Event: Interrupting Hegemonic Practices in Teacher Education Through Youth-Driven, Queer, and Translanguaging Pedagogies

Abstract

We investigated preservice teachers’ perspectives on moving their teacher preparation program toward more racial justice and equity-oriented approaches. Responding to a need for broader participation in program conceptualization, preservice teachers reflected on past, current, and future experiences in a top-ranked public teacher preparation program. Through surveys, focus groups, interviews, and document analysis, and utilizing the guiding frameworks of Critical Race Theory and Critical Whiteness Studies, we found that preservice teachers’ experiences did not align with the department’s stated mission and vision to justice and equity. Suggestions for re-envisioning the program’s future, however, aligned more closely with what the program aimed to do and illustrated the possibilities of anti-racist, critical race teacher preparation when taking students’ perspectives into account.

Authors

• Alyssa Hadley Dunn, Michigan State University

• Ashley Moore, Michigan State University

• Renee Wilmot, Michigan State University

• Julia Alvarez, Michigan State University

• Olivia Grace Gundrum, Michigan State University

• Molly Carlin, Michigan State University