Understanding the Impact of Socio-Cultural Coursework for Future Educators Prior to Preservice Training (Poster 5)

• In Event: University-Community Engagement as a Strategy for Dismantling Racial Injustice and Co-Constructing Educational Possibilities

Abstract

Several studies have found that teachers of color are pushed out and isolated from their programs (Bristol & Shirrell, 2019; Bettini et al., 2021; Hernández-Johnson et al., 2021). Despite this, teachers of color have an orientation towards supporting communities of their own, or communities that resemble their background (Kohl, Pizarro, Marcos, 2016; Cormier & Scott, 2021). On the other hand, communities benefit from having educators who reflect their background and values (Bristol & Martin-Fernandez, 2019; Hwang et al. 2022). They engage in educational activism and provide justice-oriented counternarratives for the families they work with, even at the pre-service level (Burciaga & Kohli, 2018; Perez & Jacobs, 2022). Courses such as What is the Role of Race in Urban Schools? at UC Berkeley, have attempted to capture and engage future educators of color prior to their placement in pre-service programs where they may be subjected to micro-agressive, anti-racist practices by exposing them to issues around racial identity in education paired with on-site training in diverse schools. Through this study, I explore how this intervention shapes the role future educators of color have with their profession and their larger socio-cultural community. I was led to investigate the impact of coursework regarding the experiences and obligations of teachers of color on student orientation towards supporting local marginalized communities before they enter pre-service programs. Furthermore, if this intervention has a significant impact, how could it improve their understanding of their role when they enter the field as pre-service teachers?

This project uses a Participatory Action Research model (McIntyre, 2007). Through previous and current work, student participants engaged with understanding their placement in a greater schema of social-historical context. The student participants were also positioned as researchers, collecting data and providing feedback in analysis. In this way, they continuously processed their connections to work in the profession in a multi-layered approach.

Participants included UC Berkeley students from the Fall 2022 undergraduate course, What is the Role of Race in Urban Schools?, the Spring 2023 research group, including research group members who attended the 2022 American Education Research Association conference. Each of the participants has been exposed to theory on identity and teaching roles as well as education research processes.

To understand the impact that this coursework has made on the perspectives of undergraduate students, this study used semi-structured interview methods, including focus group sessions. Interviews occurred in two phases: the first focused on historicty and background of students, including their involvement in the Fall course. The second focused on the continued growth of their ideologies during the Spring session, and their beliefs looking forward to future work in the profession. Additionally, artifacts such as students’ reflection papers were analyzed to provide insight into the development of their orientation. Preliminary analysis from the first phase of the project indicates that participants have increased awareness of community based practices with a focus on improving social-emotional well being for teacher and students alike; through reflection and mentorship, participants brace themselves for discriminatory system practices with desires to inspire reform.

Author

• Ja’Nya Banks, University of California - Berkeley