Reimagining Teacher Education: Weaving Contemplative and Social Justice Pedagogies in the Big Apple

• In Event: Being Present With Each Other as We Learn From and With Each Other

Abstract

This interpretive research is situated in our co-taught remote-learning teacher preparation course during the twin epidemics of COVID-19 and racial injustice. Our approach aims at nurturing individual | collective reflection and self | other awareness to raise consciousness for healing and sustaining equity through process orientation, heuristic methodology, reflective journaling, and event-oriented inquiry. The hermeneutic engagement with course artifacts brings to light how our students’ perceptions are redefined from prioritizing academic content to positioning the lived | felt experience as central to teaching | learning. Furthermore, as teachers | researchers, we experience a philosophical shift towards enacting contemplative pedagogy with a social-justice focus. We argue that weaving contemplative practices into teacher preparation programs has become a necessity for responsible education.

Authors

• Malgorzata Powietrzynska, Brooklyn College

• Linda Noble, Brooklyn College