Reimagining Teacher Preparation through Critical Community Field Experiences for Multilingual Learner Advocacy

• In Event: AERA Poster Session Saturday 7:45 am
  In Poster Session: Program Design and Praxis in Preservice Teacher Education: Emotions, Efficacy, and Community Engagement

Abstract

This study examines Critical Community Field Experiences (CCFE), a framework that reimagines teacher preparation by placing pre-service teachers (PSTs) in community settings beyond traditional classrooms. Grounded in theories of teacher agency and multiliteracies pedagogy, CCFE supports PSTs in critically examining personal and systemic ideologies, engaging with community knowledge, and developing equity-oriented practices that affirm multilingual learners' (MLs) identities. Using an ethnographic multisite case study, we analyzed PSTs’ participation in community based field experiences in their teacher education course. Findings show that PSTs developed critical awareness of educational inequities, recognized the value of family and community knowledge, and enacted emerging teacher agency. This study highlights the importance of community-engaged fieldwork in cultivating reflective, justice-oriented educators prepared to support MLs.

Authors

• Lucia Cardenas Curiel, Michigan State University

• Hye-In Yang, Michigan State University

• Ming Ming Cheung, Michigan State University

• Yetunde S. Alabede, Michigan State University

• Kunti Adhikari, Michigan State University