From Appreciating to Disrupting: Interrogating Equity-Centered Syllabi for Middle-Grades Teacher Preparation

• In Event: Middle-Level Education Teacher Preparation and Professional Development in Response to the Changing Landscape of Education

Abstract

This study uses Gorski’s (2009) continuum of approaches to multicultural education that extend from conservative, to liberal, and then critical to analyze thirty-seven syllabi from required or elective courses for candidates seeking middle grades licensure (grades 4-9). While evidence of all five approaches was found within the syllabi, the majority of syllabi fell under the liberal approach, centering the understanding of individual learners and cultural responsiveness as the purpose of equity-based work. While this study identified strengths in equity-oriented middle level teacher preparation it also illuminated the need to more consistently move our middle level candidates from appreciating diversity to disrupting oppressive systems.

Authors

• Christopher S. Weiler, Kutztown University of Pennsylvania
  Presenting Author

• Kathleen M. Brinegar, University of Vermont
  Presenting Author