Equity and Justice in Practice

• In Event: Centering Justice in Planning and Enactment

Abstract

Teachers and researchers agree that schools and classrooms need to better reflect the cultural and lived experiences of students in those spaces (Ladson-Billings, 1995; Paris, 2012). However, the work of how to do this remains difficult, especially for novice teachers. This dilemma provides the foundation for a course inside of a teacher preparation program that aims to put the study of equity and justice IN practice for Teacher Candidates (TCs).
This study seeks to understand the ways TCs engage: What happens when TCs are asked to reflect, analyze, and interrogate themselves and their school communities (planning), in order to enact clear and actionable ways of addressing inequity and injustice? Final projects (N=46) for the course were analyzed to consider how TCs were able to articulate actionable ways of addressing inequity in their school communities. Each project was reviewed and open coding was completed considering (a) the clarity in which the TC could articulate the analysis they conducted (planning), and (b) the specific actionable ways the TC aimed to press for more equity in their school community (enactment).
We found that engaging in “equity audits,” collecting and analyzing data of at least 25 items around a specific question focused on equity from their community, supported TCs in having a clear plan of ways to press for more equity in their schools. 22 TCs (48%) conducted an “equity audit” and 24TCs (52%) did not.“Equity audits” were shared as a resource for TCs, but were not required. Findings indicate they were a crucial component in supporting TCs in articulating specific steps that could be enacted to work against systemic injustices in their schools.
The level of specificity of the “equity audits” were profound. TCs referenced clear data, about their own teaching practice (e.g. what does my student data tell me about who is not being served in my classroom?) or school policies (e.g. who, by race and language, is being sent to in-house suspension, and why?). Each project with an “equity audit” had a clear focus for TCs to articulate an actionable way to attend to the injustice that rose from their data set.
Projects without an “equity audit,” were intentional but lacked a clear plan. They were open-ended (e.g. “another equity practice I want to look into and study more is inviting more families into the classroom community.”) While this learning is important for TCs, it is less likely action will occur without specific steps.
As we press TCs to consider ways of being more just in their own classrooms they must strategically plan for and enact these ideas. Analysis of the final projects highlights that the specific tool of an “equity audit” provides a resource for TCs to critically analyze data in order to more explicitly plan and enact more equitable practices and policies in their school communities. This finding provides a tool for teacher educators to employ to better support teachers in thoughtfully planning for ways of engaging in equity IN practice.

Author

• Megan M. Kelley-Petersen, University of Washington