Preparing Justice-Oriented Teachers Amid Resurgent White Supremacy

• In Event: Teaching in the Shadow of "Divisive Concepts": The Impact of Anti-Equity Legislation on Teachers' Work

Abstract

Novice educators face innumerable challenges as they embark on careers in the classroom. As scholarship has noted, they enter a profession with high turnover rates, which disproportionately impacts educators of color (Achinstein et al. 2010; Carter-Thomas & Darling-Hammond, 2019; Ingersoll & May, 2012). The pushout of teachers from the profession should be understood as stemming from a lack of support amid growing accountability measures that do little to support teacher development (Carter Andrews et al., 2019; Ladd, 2011). Compounding this is a political landscape that has states across the U.S. enacting legislation aimed at “divisive” topics. The effects of this legislation and broader assaults on equity work, such as those aimed at critical race theory are being felt by educators. A recent NBC News (2021) article highlighted how teachers are leaving and being fired for engaging in justice-based work. While much of the focus has been on in-service teachers, it is important to consider how preservice educators will be impacted by this legislation.

This panelist considers the implications of divisive education legislation on preservice education by using the context of the Midwest, and Iowa more specifically, to highlight its impact on preservice educator development and the additional constraints instructors will face. As the ramifications of divisive education legislation like HF802 in Iowa take shape, it is important to consider existing impediments. First, contrary to what critiques of social justice education have said, places like Iowa are deeply invested in white supremacy. While teacher education programs excel at supporting white students by helping them invest in justice-based work (Phillip & Benin, 2014), instructors must become aware of the varied enactments of whiteness. I argue that niceness or “Midwest Nice” is one mechanism that white preservice educators use to deny the realities around them. There is growing scholarship around educational niceness (see, for example, Bissonnette, 2016; Castagno, 2014; 2019) that is mired in good intentions (Lewis & Diamond, 2015) and is used to deflect when mainly white preservice educators are challenged to reflect upon their identities. Second, preservice education also contends with an environment that is invested in a culture of denial and evasiveness. While research documents these as common responses from students (Matias, 2016), they will only be magnified under laws such as HF802 that support their misplaced concerns. Third, teacher education will continue to struggle to bring synergy between foundation and social justice-based, methods-based coursework that at times struggles to incorporate these topics (Bartolome, 1994; Grossman, 2008; Grossman et al., 2009). The fourth challenge pertains to instructors of these courses. Educators preparing future teachers will likely see more resistance and see their expertise and experiences come under more scrutiny, having profound effects on those with minoritized identities. As Ladson-Billings (2005) argues, scholars of color continue to live and navigate teacher educator programs that marginalize them through racism. This moment raises questions pertaining to the investments in social justice teacher preparation in a time when legislation is essentially criminalizing and making the work of anti-racism illegal.

Author

• Gabriel Rodriguez, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign