Collectively Reimagining a Community-Centered Model of Teacher Education

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Wednesday 10:50 am Four Seasons Ballroom 2-3
  In Roundtable Session: Community at the Core: Uplifting Community-Engaged Teacher Preparation (Table 10)

Abstract

We answered this call by reflecting on our commitments to community engagement, racial justice, and educational equity. Because we (humbly) discovered that we did not live up to our commitments, we collaborated with a community-engagement scholar, local principal, and community elder to (re)imagine an equity-based / community-centered model for teacher education. Utilizing transformative learning (Sykes, 2014) and drawing upon bell hook’s (1994), we recognize the process of theorizing to “imagine possible futures” (p. 61). Further, when introducing pre-service teachers into new communities we understand that community cultural wealth (Yosso, 2005) must be honored. This paper argues for the need to collectively build a reimagined model of teacher education alongside community partners, preparing our teacher-candidates to be in community with communities.

Authors

• Jennifer Doyle, University of Kentucky

• Toni M. Williams, University of South Carolina

• Theresa Harrison, University of South Carolina