A Truth Space for Reckoning With Race and Disability in School Discipline

• In Event: Questioning and Creating "Truth Spaces" in Social Foundations Classrooms

Abstract

The course described in the second presentation is offered to students in the Early Grades program at a regional, public university located in the suburbs of a large Northeastern city. The version of the class that will be highlighted is a core component of a community immersive experience where pre-service teachers spend three full days a week for an entire semester learning within a public elementary school located in a predominantly Black neighborhood in the city. This experience is built on the belief that the wisdom of historically marginalized communities is an essential asset for those learning to teach. The course explores the history of education in the United States, supporting students in developing the ability to critically examine educational institutions in their present form by better understanding their past. For students in the community immersive experience, the course also includes a focus on the history of education for the city in which the school resides.

Focusing on a particular unit of the course that centered on the intersection of race and disability in school discipline, this presentation will highlight the tensions and opportunities that emerged as the pre-service teachers’ learning in clashed with their observational experiences in the partner school. More specifically, I will discuss (a) the tensions that arose between the students’ articulated philosophies and their classroom practices and (b) the opportunity that was presented to unpack problematic perspectives on student behavior and school discipline.

Official course description:

An examination of the historical evolution and contemporary purposes, practices, and structures of schooling in the United States. Students will investigate the political, sociological, and economic motivators in the origin, maintenance, and reform of American schooling. In addition, students utilize the course's historical context to engage in an examination of contemporary issues in American schooling, specific attention will be given to the impact of current educational reforms on the theory and practice of early childhood education.

Author

• Dana Morrison, West Chester University of Pennsylvania
  Presenting Author