Teaching and Learning on Days After: Students and Teachers' Perspectives in the Wake of Injustice

• In Event: Teaching for Social Justice: Antiracist Teacher Education in Historically White Institutions

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to explore how practicing educators and current students experience the days after major events, traumas, or tragedies. In particular, I investigate: (1) What type of pedagogy do critical educators engage in on days after, and what are the purposes of this pedagogy? (2) How do students feel about teachers’ choices on days after? Based on interviews with 50 critical educators around the U.S. and analysis of 10 students’ narratives about days after experiences, findings reveal a typology of Days After Pedagogy includes several key components (such as teachers’ commitment to justice and equity, risk-taking, sociopolitical awareness, vulnerability, and commitment to humanizing interactions) and outcomes (such as resisting silence, refusing neutrality, reclaiming agency).

Author

• Alyssa Hadley Dunn, Michigan State University