Enacting an Abolitionist Ethnic Studies Praxis for K–12 Educator Preparation

• In Event: Another Teacher Education Is Possible: The Case for Ethnic Studies and the Preparation of All Teachers

Abstract

Objectives & Research Questions
While there are increasing efforts to diversify the K–12 educator workforce at three levels (teachers, social workers and counselors), there are few that center Ethnic Studies pedagogies (Tintiangco, et al., 2014). In this paper we describe the Ethnic Studies Education Pathways Project (ESEPP) to examine the impact of an Ethnic Studies abolitionist praxis on educator preparation.

ESEPP is a university initiative intended to increase BIPOC undergraduate and graduate student retention through student-faculty-practitioner mentorship, and pipeline students into education careers broadly defined. ESEPP brought together 9 Ethnic Studies scholars across education, Deaf studies, and social work; 24 undergraduates and graduate students; and 12 K–12 professionals to engage in multi-level career mentorship, professional development, and co-development of Ethnic Studies lessons and projects for BIPOC students in Southern California.

Theory
ESEPP and our paper is guided by an abolitionist Ethnic Studies praxis (AESP). Through AESP, our work is grounded in the historical and intergenerational struggles that led to the formation of Ethnic Studies, recognizes the love and hope that undergirds BIPOC trauma and resistance, and necessitates dismantling structures that pose danger to our livelihoods, but (re)imagining and (re)building spaces that nurture our individual and collective wellness (Buenavista et al., forthcoming). To be an abolitionist Ethnic Studies student and educator is to be simultaneously urgent and fluid in the ways we move and interact with one another, and willing to learn from and relinquish the lessons from the past to move towards the future. AESP shaped ESEPP's conceptualization and implementation, participant selection, and programming so BIPOC were centered and nurtured towards personal wellness and collective sustainability.

Methods/Sources
Through case study of the first year of ESEPP, this paper draws on data from 90 student and 33 practitioner applications to the program, pre- and post-participation surveys from 24 students and 12 practitioners and event assessment surveys providing a descriptive account of participant demographics and qualitative accounts of the impact of ESEPP programs. We also rely on 50 hours of faculty participant observation data, as well as analysis of documents and artifacts produced by ESEPP participants. Taken together, we build a collective counterstory of the potential for educator preparation to be abolitionist, intersectional, and grounded in Ethnic Studies content and pedagogy.

Findings
ESEPP filled a critical void—curricularly, pedagogically, and politically—for students in Ethnic Studies, teacher education, counseling, and social work programs, and provided material career resources and networks. We argue that an AESP prioritizes wellness over productivity, and enacting AESP within educator preparation is critical to developing the aspirations and skill set of BIPOC to pursue sustainable K–12 education careers.

Significance
Our findings inform three contemporary issues: diversification of the educator workforce (Kohli, 2021; Salsberg et al., 2017); increased attention to the potential of educator preparation to disrupt whiteness in education (Picower, 2021), and the advancement of Ethnic Studies in K–12 and higher education contexts (Cuauhtin et al., 2019). Specifically, ESEPP represents an intentional effort to bridge curricular content, pedagogy, and people across Ethnic Studies, education, counseling, and social work.

Authors

• Jose Miguel Paez, California State University - Northridge

• Nicole Blalock, California State University - Northridge

• Tracy Lachica Buenavista, California State University - Northridge

• Dimpal Jain, California State University Northridge