Creating Spaces of Rightful Presence: Critical Reflections From Researchers Facilitating a Teacher Professional Learning Program

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Thursday 9:50 am Four Seasons Ballroom 1
  In Roundtable Session: Equity and Social Justice to Activate Student Agency (Table 8)

Abstract

This paper describes the adoption of a critical justice framework within a K-12 professional development program to support teachers during a time of increasing scrutiny over socially just teaching. Utilizing a qualitative method to explore teachers’ perceptions of the framework, the authors embarked on a line of inquiry that required personal reflection to authentically engage the research topic. Over three years, 26 STEAM teachers participated in a professional learning course on rightful presence (RP) in education, learning, discussing, and reflecting on their teaching practices. Analysis indicated that the course provided a space in which teachers could explore, not only their students’ sense of rightful presence, but their own rightful presence in education and their positionality in relation to teaching.

Authors

• Justina Jackson, Georgia Institute of Technology

• Katherine Boice King, Georgia Institute of Technology

• Meltem Alemdar, Georgia Institute of Technology