Reading the Word and the World: How Social Contexts Impact Racial Literacy Development in Preservice Teachers

• In Event: Thursday Roundtable Session 4:20 pm
  In Roundtable Session: Exploring Neglected Narratives and Racial Literacies: Social Studies Teachers' Beliefs and Practices (Table 21)

Abstract

This instrumental case study explored how racial literacy develops among white pre-service teachers (PSTs). In this paper, we focus on the answer to what contributes to the process of racial literacy development among white PSTs? We discovered that crucial to the racial literacy development was a variety of social contexts that participants brought together to enhance their understanding. These contexts included their home and community experience, participation in religious institutions, and the contemporary social political context. We also asked how do these phenomena inform our efforts to support racial literacy development in teacher education? Implications include creating vulnerable, courageous spaces that shift agency to PSTs, and including explicit content about racism, engaging current events and lived experiences in the curriculum.

Authors

• Elizabeth A. Kenyon, Kent State University

• Evan Mooney, Husson University