A Sustained Community of Practice to Transform Justice-Centered Teaching in an Early Childhood Classroom

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Saturday 11:45 am - Gold 3
  In Roundtable Session: Communities of Practice to Center Justice-Centered Teaching and Learning

Abstract

This qualitative case study explores how early childhood educators developed critical consciousness and enacted justice-oriented pedagogy through participation in a job-embedded Community of Practice (CoP). Grounded in transformative learning theory and culturally sustaining pedagogy, the study draws on CoP transcripts, lesson plans, and documentation artifacts to examine how teachers reframed their understanding of children’s thinking, centered family knowledge, and exercised agency in curriculum design. Findings reveal that sustained collaborative inquiry supported educators in constructing counter-narratives, disrupting deficit perspectives, and positioning young children as capable participants in conversations about fairness, identity, and justice. This study contributes to research on equity-centered professional learning, highlighting CoPs as powerful spaces for cultivating teacher transformation and fostering inclusive, socially conscious early childhood classrooms.

Authors

• Victoria Damjanovic, Northern Arizona University

• Jennifer Ward, Kennesaw State University