Exploring Early Childhood Preservice Teachers’ Understanding and Engagement With Social Issues

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Thursday 1:45 pm Four Seasons Ballroom 4
  In Roundtable Session: Cultivating Equity in Early Childhood Education: Exploring Community Wealth, Critical Pedagogies, and Culturally Sustaining Practices in Teacher Preparation Programs (Table 12)

Abstract

The current emphasis on early educational standardization and regulatory approaches has left early childhood teachers with little to no room to engage in authentic discussion about social issues. This study explored how early childhood preservice teachers (PSTs) understand and engage with social issues they perceive to be controversial. The study found that PSTs predominantly engaged in ways of refusal and avoidance, with some evidence of them reckoning about professional responsibilities within professional boundaries. The findings reflect the restrictive educational climate in which PSTs are expected to perform standardized instructional approaches. It is suggested that teacher education programs provide more explicit and scaffolded experiences and opportunities for PSTs to grapple with socially controversial issues and exercise their agentic teacher voice development.

Authors

• Sophia Han, University of South Florida

• Jolyn Blank, University of South Florida

• Daria Smirnova, University of South Florida