Clearing the Path: Insights from UCLA Ethnic Studies Teacher Education Pathway

• In Event: Ethnic Studies Education across Tovaangar

Abstract

Building upon the activism and transformative impact of the emergence of Ethnic Studies at the
university level in the 1950s and 60s, Ethnic Studies in K-12 schools has emerged as a site of possibility
for dismantling racial injustice and constructing educational possibilities especially for students of color.
Ethnic Studies requirements have been legislated while a parallel “anti-woke” and “anti-CRT”
movement has also taken hold in some communities. Aligned with AERA's theme, this presentation
aims to "put histories of social movements, grassroots organizing, and innovation" in conversation with
the lived experiences of teachers that were a part of the Ethnic Studies Teacher Education Pathway at
UCLA. As the first Teacher Education Program to launch a K-12 Ethnic Studies pathway, much has
been learned from a programmatic and pedagogical level. As ES courses are taught in K-12 classrooms,
a body of research about their efficacy, impact, and implementation is emerging. However, the research
on teacher preparation is limited. When coupled with the growing demand for ES, the lack of research to
support the preparation of ES teachers is a pressing need; in other words, what we have come to know
are the ways Ethnic Studies Education is how to “clear the path” for future generations of ES teachers.
This presentation reflects on nearly a decade of preparing secondary social science and English/language
arts teachers to teach Ethnic Studies classes in Los Angeles schools. Presenters include core faculty and
two program graduates that intentionally returned to teach Ethnic Studies in the same schools they
attended.

Author

• Darlene Lee, University of California - Los Angeles