Social Justice Core Practices, the Problem of Enactment, and the Problem of Context

• In Event: Social Justice and Restorative Practices in Teacher Education

Abstract

Organizing teacher education around social justice core practices might address the “problem of enactment” (Kennedy, 1999) while perpetuating the “problem of context” (Lave, 1996), which describes how research on situated activity often focuses on practices themselves while ignoring the dynamic interplay between person, activity, and world. Drawing on data from a Delphi study (Clayton, 1997) which identified social justice core practices, this paper investigates how social justice educators conceptualized the relationship between practice and context. Results show participants situated socially just teaching practice in relation to contextual features of positionality, societal inequities, school constraints, classroom particulars, and the boundaries of teaching practice. Implications for teacher education pedagogies at the intersection of justice, practice, and context are discussed.

Authors

• Andrew J. Schiera, University of Wisconsin - Madison
  Presenting Author

• Jasmine Marshall-Butler, University of Pennsylvania
  Presenting Author

• Nicole Mittenfelner Carl, University of Pennsylvania
  Presenting Author