Community-Based Teacher Education: A Case Study of Soka Education in Action in Brazil

• In Event: Teachers' Approaches to Shaping Professional Environments

Abstract

This paper highlights efforts of a grassroots group of Brazilian educators, Soka Education in Action (SEA). This case study explores their efforts to promote critical understandings of Soka educational philosophy and how they put those ideas in action-- seeking to promote equity in classrooms and schools while intertwined within an ethos of care and compassion. “Soka,” is a term which translates from Japanese to mean “value-creation,” and as an educational philosophy, it is progressive and student-centered. This case-study is a collaborative effort by two scholars to explore the efforts of SEA educators who provide professional development and the ways their work has served public school teachers in the São Paulo area over the past 35 years.

Authors

• Alankrita Chhikara, Purdue University

• Vicki G Mokuria, Stephen F. Austin State University