Teaching for Social Justice: Visual Thinking Strategies in Online Teacher Education

• In Event: Transformative Designs for Equity: Teacher Education Pathways Across Communities and Contexts

Abstract

Amid ongoing educational and societal tensions, the need for social justice in teacher education is critical. Visual Thinking Strategies (VTS), a museum-based method for engaging learners in art discussion (Housen, 2002; Yenawine, 2013), promotes social justice-focused discourse and can help address this challenge in online teacher education. This proposal examines how full-time in-service teachers learned to use VTS to facilitate student dialogue, address historical and current injustices, and teach classroom curriculum. Data include teachers’ experiences with VTS, reflections on VTS facilitation with their students, and final course projects. Qualitative findings reveal VTS can be an effective pedagogical tool and humanizing practice in asynchronous teacher education, promoting social justice, critical thinking, and transformative dialogue within an inclusive, equitable learning space.

Author

• Rohanna Ylagan-Nicanor, California State University - Fullerton