Once Upon a Time: Narrative Critical Reflections Unlocking Critical Dispositions Within Literacy Method Courses

• In Event: Interdisciplinary Approaches to a Pedagogy of Humanization: Preparing Teachers for Culturally Sustaining Classrooms

Abstract

We are in the midst of a time of growing diversity within the United States. With the large influx of immigrants and U.S. born people of color, adjustments need to be made by the nation to serve the new racial landscape that resides within it (Banks, 2001). Inevitably, this growing diversity has direct impacts on how schools and classroom teachers function. As teachers prepare to serve the students in their classrooms, new pedagogical considerations need to be made on how to best serve all students while honoring their life-ways (Gay & Howard, 2001). The key to this practice lies in the act of reflection as a means of culturally relevant teaching.
Freire (2014) explains that liberation is a praxis: the action combined with reflection of men and women upon their world is the key to transforming it. Teacher reflection has continuously been part of teacher education literature; however, what does reflection look like when teachers reflect beyond the effectiveness of curriculum or student work? To turn their sights inward? Howard (2003) defines the act of assessing one’s dispositions toward content, bias, backgrounds and beliefs as critical reflection. Critical reflection serves as a prerequisite for teachers who wish to engage in culturally relevant teaching ways. Ladson-Billings(1995) defines culturally relevant teaching as a means to combine students inside and outside of school identities by means of relevant, compelling instruction. Specifically, critical reflection taps into the tenet of critical consciousness. Critically conscious teachers work to address racial capital inequities and academic/ social needs of all students (Gay,2002; Howard,2001).
This session proposes critical reflection through narrative writing as a means to build critical dispositions for preservice teachers. This is done through chronicling the narratives, artifacts and interviews of three teachers within a grade K-5 literacy methods course within an urban education program juxtaposed with the insights of their teacher educator through the process. This qualitative multi case study (Stake, 2013) allows an in depth look at what critical reflection is, how it looks and multiple journeys toward critical dispositions from the perspective of a teacher educator and in service teachers. Data was open- coded within and across narratives to find common themes of critical racial events that are formative in their journey toward criticality.
Findings reveal that journeys toward critical dispositions are very diverse whether it be due witnessing racial trauma personally or interventions of privilege acknowledged by others; however, what remained the same was an audit of self that occurred after the experience. Many more codes/ findings will be revealed in the presentation.
This study and presentation has direct impacts on the curricular decisions of teacher educators to address reflection in new ways and consider critical reflection as a means to build critical reflection. Preservice teachers not only have new means to be introspective , but tools that allow them to create this same shared experience for their students in safe ways. Students reap the benefits of more equitable literacy teaching as a byproduct of their teachers critically analyzing themselves.

Author

• Kara M. Taylor, Indiana University - Purdue University at Indianapolis