Socially Transformative Pedagogy in Action: Learning From Teacher Scholars

• In Event: Reconceptualizing Humanization, Social Reproduction, and Social Transformation in Teacher Education: Transforming Schooling's Structural Violence

Abstract

Teachers and activists doing powerful work in classrooms today are challenging the racist deficit narrative that blames youth for their marginalization in schools. Let us not accept that “educated” is a one-dimensional attainment. It is crucial to reframe the problem, asking “education for whom? education for what?” Students in historically dispossessed, under-resourced, over-exploited, and under-served communities do not simply need to get initiated into White-centered epistemologies, into middle class discourse, into the current demands of corporations. Instead, students must be given the freedom and creativity to imagine the kind of world their communities need and the steps necessary to build those communities. Socially transformative pedagogy is the educational project that youth need today.

The culture of power in schools firmly rooted in White, Eurocentric norms. And these norms impact all aspects of student learning—from the curriculum they are taught, to the proficiency levels they are supposed to strive towards, to the teachers in front of them. According to Feagin and Vera (1995), these are “socially organized set[s] of attitudes, ideas, and practices that deny African Americans and other People of Color the dignity, opportunities, freedoms, and rewards that this nation offers White Americans” (p. 7).
These practices result in experienced racism from teachers like these in schools throughout the country, serving to keep White teachers in positions of power and Students of Color in positions of powerlessness.

This study draws on four case studies of early career teachers by exploring their teacher action research projects (e.g. Mertler, 2008) and their subsequent classroom lives. These cases suggest a reframing of the current narrative on K-12 public education to focus more purposefully on the reality that is the opportunity gap prevalent in urban schools. As a research team of teacher educators and practicing K-12 classroom teachers, we employed tenets of ethnographic inquiry as our overarching methodological approach. The case studies showcase teachers’ reflections on, progress towards, and implementation of socially transformative pedagogies. Socially transformative pedagogy, as seen in the case studies of this project, involves deep work in preparation and an ongoing process of creative invention, rebuilding, and transforming of the classroom culture and experiences in ways such as:

● examining one’s own identity, what brought the teacher to this place, what challenges and hopes she brings.
● exploring the ways that White privilege is structured into every aspect of U.S. society and how to challenge it.
● recognizing the community cultural capital—the assets in discourse, critical thinking, and solidarity—that students bring from their communities.
● committing to a process of constant research, reflection, and action.
● advancing accountability to the community and the needs that oppressed peoples have for new approaches, institutions, and initiatives that advance their surviving and thriving.
● rethinking assessment to give well-rounded, meaningful feedback to students and teachers on the ways classroom knowledge is advancing.
● struggling for social justice, for a world as it could be—free of White supremacy, patriarchy, and class oppression.
● addressing trauma through both trauma-informed teaching and support for the challenges teachers face.

Authors

• Noah Borrero, University of San Francisco

• Richard Ayers, University of San Francisco

• Sharim Hannegan-Martinez, University of Kentucky

• Esther Flores