Examining Teacher Perceptions of Professional Development Focused on Culturally Responsive Practices: A Racial Context

• In Event: Teacher Perceptions and Enactments of Culturally Sustaining Practices

Abstract

This study examined the perceptions of educators engaged in professional development focused on culturally responsive pedagogy to inform the design and implementation of teacher professional learning. We used a critical professional development framework (Kohli et al., 2015) to guide this research as a means of disrupting white conceptualizations of professional development in schools. Findings suggest (a) teachers approached professional development as an individual racial endeavor; (b) the construct of professional learning was bound by conventional constructs of whiteness; and (c) the teachers had varying levels of readiness to engage as reflective/active participants. The discussion is centered on how and why the contextualization of race in professional development matters. Implications for classrooms, school districts, and teacher education programs are presented.

Authors

• Leanne M. Evans, University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee

• Kelly R. Allen, Augusta University

• Crystasany R. Turner, Erikson Institute