Preservice Teacher-Scholars: Reflections on an Equity Research Project

• In Event: Disrupting the Default: Preservice Teachers and the Making of Critical Educators

Abstract

This paper focuses on the reflections and artifacts from preservice teachers’ (PSTs) semester-long equity research project assignments in their field experience course. The PST come from various content areas (e.g., ELA, Spanish, Sciences) and, through this project, choose an educational equity topic culminating in a research roundtable discussion. Students’ reflections demonstrate a desire to support educational advocacy efforts. They also appreciate the diverse topics discussed and name a burgeoning teacher-scholar identity. This project also illuminates the equity challenges PSTs notice in their field placement. As teacher educators with our own diverse sociocultural identities, we note PSTs’ underlying deficit lens (Gorski, 2017, 2019), damage-centered narratives (Tuck, 2009), and asset-based approach (McClure & Reed, 2022). Ultimately, we seek to: 1) discuss the cultivation of PSTs’ scholarly identity through the results of their reflections on this equity-oriented project and the project’s content itself, and 2) brainstorm future iterations (engaging in reflection and reflexivity).

Authors

• Jinan ElSabbagh, Oklahoma State University

• Jolie Hicks, Oklahoma State University