Disrupting Preservice Teachers’ Biases: Leveraging Case-Based Instruction to Explore Counter-Narratives in Early Childhood Special Education

• In Event: Saturday Roundtable Session 3:05 pm
  In Roundtable Session: Disrupting the Status Quo: Equity and Inclusion in Early Childhood (Table 4)

Abstract

Case-based instruction with preservice teachers (PSTs) can be used to expose PSTs to complex classroom situations. This paper presents findings from a multi-site, interdisciplinary research collaboration where PSTs were presented with two cases to recognize and respond to racial and gender bias in early childhood mathematics settings. The PSTs’ responses to discussion prompts were coded referencing the FAIR framework (Louie et al., 2021) to determine the anti-deficit and deficit-based framing of students’ mathematical competence and behavior. We interrogate the development of the cases and our roles as interdisciplinary teacher educators in our PSTs’ framing. The significance and implications for future research and practice are discussed, emphasizing ways anti-deficit framings can challenge and disrupt biases contributing to educational inequities.

Authors

• Annie George-Puskar, Fordham University

• Alesia Mickle Moldavan, Georgia Southern University

• Monica L. Gonzalez, East Carolina University