Preparing Teachers for Deeper Learning and Equity

• In Event: From the Teacher to the Superintendent: Building Educational Systems to Support Racial Equity

Abstract

In this second decade of the 21st century, knowledge and new technologies are growing exponentially, the economy is changing rapidly, and education matters more than ever for individual and societal success (Brown, A., 2016). Policymakers, educators, and the public are calling on schools to provide more powerful learning experiences focused on the demands of life, work, and citizenship—deeper learning— which will enable students to think critically, solve problems, use knowledge for new purposes, and learn how to learn (Darling-Hammond, et al. 2020). At the same time, school populations are becoming more diverse, school segregation is intensifying, and economic inequality is heightening divisions within educational systems, making it vital to prioritize equity and to adopt a social justice orientation in order to provide deeper learning experiences for every student in every school. Layered on this is the COVID-19 pandemic crisis, exacerbating systemic inequalities (Authors, 2019).

These conditions have created an ever-increasing demand for teachers who can meet the needs of today’s students, and so a vital question confronts teacher educators amid these rapid changes in society and schooling: How can we prepare candidates entering the profession to teach for deeper learning—and, in so doing, to teach for equity and social justice?

This paper shares the finding of a cross-case analysis of seven teacher preparation programs. Each case provides an in-depth look into a program that is engaging in practices aligned with what we are calling Teacher Preparation for Deeper Learning (TPDL). One of the key elements of TPDL is an explicit focus on preparing teachers for equity. This presentation will focus on this particular element of the study’s findings.

We used snowball sampling, and selected programs based on effectiveness, as determined by extant data, and an explicit focus on deeper learning and equity as determined by reviews of program documents and curricula. The case studies included stakeholder interviews (faculty, mentors, participants, graduates, district leaders); participant surveys; observations of participants in their school placements; observations of coursework; and analyses of extant data.

This paper shines light on the “how” of preparing equity-centered teachers by highlighting six common characteristics of the participating teacher preparation programs revealed in the cross-case analysis findings. These characteristics demonstrate both process and content in centering equity in educator preparation. In essence, preparation programs endeavored to enact principles of equity, even as they prepared teachers to engage in equity work in pk-12 settings. These principles are:

• An explicit commitment to equity:
• Intentional candidate recruitment:
• Coursework linking education and social inequality:
• Field experiences in spaces struggling against inequalities:
• Candidate identity and social location work
• Equitable teaching across difference

These principles are not yet widespread across the broader educator preparation field, demonstrating a lack of responsibility of educator preparation programs in preparing teachers are who are ready to provide culturally sustaining, anti-racist, and inclusive classrooms for all students. This paper provides researchers and teacher educators with specific examples of how programs are preparing equity-focused teachers. The importance of such research cannot be emphasized enough, especially given the current climate in the United States.

Author

• Maria E. Hyler, Learning Policy Institute