In Pursuit of "Truth" in Research on Teachers, Teaching, and Teacher Preparation

Session Type: Invited Speaker Session

Abstract

Across presentations, this symposium takes up a number of key themes and questions about teachers, teaching, teacher education, and/or teaching materials that are closely related to the AERA 2023 program theme: (1) What is the role of print media discourses in shaping public “truths” about teacher preparation and teachers’ work? How do these discourses compare to those generated by empirical research? What impacts do they have? (2) How are “truths” represented in teaching materials about highly politicized and controversial scientific and socio-political topics? How do these vary across transnational boundaries? How are they shaped by politics and policies at both local and larger levels? (3) How do teachers negotiate multiple “truths” in the everyday decisions they make regarding how and what they teach in schools and classrooms? How are these decisions embedded in situation-specific contexts? How are they influenced by differential power relationships in schools and society? (4) How are “data,” “evidence,” and “truth(s)” constructed in public, policy, and research discourses about teachers and teacher preparation, teachers’ work in schools and classrooms, and the materials teachers use in multiple subject areas?

Sub Unit

• AERA Presidential Session

Chair

• Marilyn Cochran-Smith, Boston College

Papers

• The "Truth" About Teacher Preparation at New Graduate Schools: Unpacking the Discourses - Marilyn Cochran-Smith, Boston College; Reid Jewett Smith, Disability Inclusion

• Examining Teachers' Complex, Everyday Negotiations of the "What, Why, and How" of Teaching in the Pursuit of "Truth" - Thomas M. Philip, University of California - Berkeley; Veer Kothari, University of California - Berkeley; Andy Castro, University of California - Berkeley

• Facts Versus Falsehoods: Framing the Causes of Climate Change in Teaching Materials From the United States and the Global South - Christian K. Asante, California State University - Chico

• Nuancing the News: "Truth," News Values, and the Complex Work of Teachers - Nicole Mockler, University of Sydney

Discussant

• A.Lin Goodwin, Boston College