Enacting a Pedagogy of Compassion in Teacher Education

• In Event: Fairmont Roundtable Session Eighteen
  In Roundtable Session: Humanizing Teacher Education and Teacher Development (Table 14)

Abstract

Contemporary youth-led movements toward justice underscore the urgency of teacher preparation programs in familiarizing preservice teachers (PSTs) in the U.S. and globally with pedagogies that talk back to polarizing anti-Black, anti-immigrant, and adult-centric discourses. We examined pedagogy of compassion as one such decolonial approach in our collaborative research, teaching, and teacher-education partnership across universities in the U.S. Midwest and South Africa. We discuss findings of our qualitative analysis of how 10 PSTs in the U.S. context identified challenges, opportunities, and connections as they designed curriculum and teaching utilizing pedagogy of compassion. We assert the scholarly significance of considering how such decolonizing approaches may support PSTs in designing curriculum and teaching toward a more just future.

Authors

• Vaughn W.M. Watson, Michigan State University
  Presenting Author

• Saloshna Vandeyar, University of Pretoria
  Presenting Author

• Joanne E. Marciano, Michigan State University
  Presenting Author

• Brittany M. Brewer, Michigan State University
  Presenting Author