The Conceptualization of a Social Justice Educator: Teacher Candidates Learning Under the Guise of a Commitment Statement

• In Event: Confronting and Decentering Whiteness in the Development of Social Justice Educators

Abstract

This paper analyzes how “social justice educator” is conceptualized by teacher candidates who move across spaces of university teacher education programs and k-12 school sites. As current graduate instructors and future teacher educators, we are invested in understanding teacher candidates’ perception of themselves and how to gauge the impact of a teacher education program. As members of a curriculum and instruction department with a weighty commitment statement, we see our role as citizen-scholars to access, analyze, and make use of teacher candidates’ beliefs about social justice educators. We aim to reject an apolitical stance by seeking evidence to responsibly inform teacher preparation.

Authors

• Lindsay Robinson, University of Minnesota - Twin Cities

• Molly Siebert, University of Minnesota - Twin Cities

• Anna Schick, University of Minnesota - Twin Cities