Preservice Teachers' Conceptualizations of Representation and Social Justice: Learning to Teach Responsibly Through Narratives of Study Abroad Experiences

• In Event: Preparing Teachers to Be Global-Citizen-Scholars: Educating Responsibly for Equity and Inclusion in Classroom Practice

Abstract

Objectives
Developing on our previous research on social justice focused study abroad programs for PSTs, the purpose of this study, using inquiry methods, was to understand how PSTs conceptualize representation in relation to social justice through their lived experiences during study abroad organized by the College of Education.
Theoretical Framework
We focused on PSTs understanding of representation, one of three interconnected components of social justice as theorized by Cazden (2012). Representation, the political dimension concerning power dynamics within social relations, has been the least prevalent in PSTs’ conceptualizations on social justice in our previous studies.
Method
As narrative is how daily life is shared and stories are how we make sense of our experiences (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016), we used narrative inquiry as our research methodology. Clandinin and Rosiek (2007) argued that narrative inquiry not only valorizes an individual’s experience but is also “an exploration of the social, cultural, and institutional narratives within which individual’s experiences were constituted, shaped, expressed, and enacted” (p. 42) and it is within these contexts that we framed our research. Additionally, to expand on the analytical lens which only looks at grand narratives or “fully-fledged stories” (Georgakopoulou, 2006, p. 123), we used small stories research in our effort to understand PSTs’ experiences abroad and how they relate to teaching responsibly for social justice.
Data Sources
Data were collected from four PST participants; two participants from the Honduras Study Abroad Program and two participants from Tanzania Study Abroad Program. Reflective journals focused on social justice and post-trip, in-depth interviews were the primary sources of data. Participants were also asked to share artifacts that represented their SA experiences while at partner schools and during community engagements. We used ‘small stories’ (Georgakopoulou, 2006) as a way of making meaning of PSTs’ daily experiences with the students, families, teachers, and community members of the host country.
Results
Using ‘small stories,’ participant narratives offered specific examples of their understanding of representation through their experiences with the communities. There was a shift from understandings of gender and cultural equality toward the recognition that knowledge is entangled within language, context, history, and power thus demonstrating that decision-making is fundamental for PSTs to be developed.
Scholarly Significance of the Study
We build upon our prior research of PSTs’ conceptualizations of teaching for social
justice through social justice-oriented study abroad programs that highlighted representation as the least frequently recognized component of social justice (r, 2012). To better understand how teacher educators can continue to improve upon PSTs’ conceptions of social justice, we investigated PSTs’ stories of how they conceptualize social justice, representation. PSTs drew upon experiences gained through a social justice-oriented study abroad program, as well as upon numerous lived experiences outside of the explicit curriculum. Social justice-oriented study abroad programs demonstrate potential to expand upon PSTs’ conceptions of social justice through connections with participants’ funds of knowledge.

Authors

• JoAnn I. Phillion, Purdue University

• Jill Annette Newton, Purdue University