Becoming a Teacher: Constructing and Negotiating TOC (Teacher of Color) Identity in Teacher Education

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Friday 3:20 pm Four Seasons Ballroom 4
  In Roundtable Session: Race and Antiracism in Teachers' Lives (Table 12)

Abstract

This paper investigates the teacher education experiences of preservice teachers of color and Indigenous teachers (PTOCIT) and offers an integrated developmental perspective on PTOCIT that foregrounds race in teacher education. It reports findings from a longitudinal qualitative study of 15 PTOCIT enrolled in two teacher education programs - one in a predominantly white institution, one in a minority serving institution. Drawing from models of racial and professional identity development, I created trajectories of PTOCIT development situated within teacher education structures. Findings reveal teacher education as a time of significant development and suggest the potential for teacher education to address PTOCIT developmental needs as an important aspect of teacher education and a crucial part of producing and supporting teachers of color.

Author

• Adina Goldstein, University of Pennsylvania