Learning to Center Different Stories: Examining Teacher Learning in an Ethnic Studies Methods Course

• In Event: Fairmont Roundtable Session Seven
  In Roundtable Session: Centering Race in Teacher Education (Table 3)

Abstract

In this interpretative case study, the researchers examined the beliefs and practices of two beginning and two experienced social studies teachers enrolled in an ethnic studies methods course. Using ethnic studies pedagogy as the lens, the researchers analyzed teacher interviews, observations of the methods course classroom, teacher-created lesson plans and presentations, and teacher reflections. The researchers found that teachers represented four different models related to teaching ethnic studies: awakened decolonizer, emerging co-conspirator, assertive ally, and resister. Moreover, white teachers struggled more in understanding how to authentically center Black, Indigenous, Latinx, and Asian American experiences in their lesson plans and broader curricular thinking. Yet, having “critical friends” in combination with reflective thinking better enabled white teachers to teach ethnic studies.

Authors

• Christopher C. Martell, University of Massachusetts - Boston
  Presenting Author

• Dawn Colquitt-Anderson, University of Massachusetts - Boston
  Presenting Author