What Should a Teacher Look Like? Cleaning the “Dirty Computer” in Teacher Education

• In Event: Sunday Roundtable 9:45 am
  In Roundtable Session: Critical Teacher Education and Implications for K–12 Education (Table 19)

Abstract

In recent years, there has been a push by many predominantly white institutions (PWIs) to increase the diversity of their student bodies. Despite such pushes, the student population of most Schools of Education are overwhelmingly white and female. In this study, I explore the material space of the Teachers College building on my campus to work to understand the messages that college spaces send to students about what a teacher should look like. I use Janelle Monáe’s film Dirty Computer to think through the ways my participants talked about the messages our Teachers College sends. The findings may be helpful to colleges seeking to diversify their student enrollment.

Author

• Kirsten Robbins, SUNY - College at Oneonta