Cultivating Critical Love with Preservice Teachers through Stories of Names, Identity, and Belonging

• In Event: AERA Poster Session Saturday 11:45 am
  In Poster Session: Foundations of Teaching and Teacher Education for Socio-Cultural, Racial, and Intersecting Minoritized Identities

Abstract

Grounded in Sealey-Ruiz’s concept of critical love, this study explores a naming project designed for predominantly white preservice teachers (PSTs) at a rural U.S. institution. Drawing on Hammond’s culture tree and Bishop’s metaphor of books as mirrors, windows, and sliding glass doors, the project moved beyond surface-level cultural awareness to interrogate how names reflect belonging and exclusion. Findings revealed that many PSTs engaged with their naming histories. They grappled with the emotional weight of name mispronunciations, anglicization, and erasure, recognizing how these experiences shape their prospective young students’ sense of self. This study highlights the need for teacher preparation programs to integrate culturally sustaining pedagogies that cultivate linguistic responsiveness and critical love, ensuring that future educators affirm students’ full identities.

Author

• Shuling Yang, University of Maryland - Baltimore County