“I'm Ready for More of a Challenge”: Examining Teachers’ Emerging Sociopolitical Consciousness in a Professional Learning Community

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  In Roundtable Session: Culturally Relevant and Disability Status–Relevant Schooling (Table 32)

Abstract

This paper examines how participating in a year-long after-school Professional Learning Community (PLC) focused on culturally relevant and sustaining educational approaches and student engagement supported teachers in reflecting on their teaching practices and developing new ideas about whether, how, and why they could support their own and their students’ sociopolitical consciousness across educational contexts. Data analyzed include recordings of 10 two-hour long PLC sessions and interviews with each participating teacher. Findings consider how participating teachers: 1) built confidence in their abilities to incorporate issues of equity and justice in their teaching as they spent more time in the classroom; and 2) positioned themselves as learners alongside their colleagues.

Authors

• Joanne E. Marciano, Michigan State University

• Tara Miyoko Kintz, Michigan Assessment Consortium

• Kristy Cooper Stein, Michigan State University

• Zhamilya Yessirkepova, Michigan State University