Best Intentions and Unintended Outcomes: The Role of Majoritarian Stories in Teaching for Social Justice

• In Event: Roundtable Session 73
  In Roundtable Session: Race, Racism, and Teaching for Social Justice

Abstract

To understand how dominant messages about race and effective pedagogy impact teacher beliefs and practice, this study uses critical race theory to perform case study analysis of Susan Pershing, a mid-career entrant into the teaching profession who was terminated from her first job before the end of her district’s probationary period. Despite being prepared in a program oriented toward social justice and hired in a school with a comparable mission, Susan’s beliefs and practices affirmed uncritical perspectives of the status quo regarding race, schooling, and social ascendance. This research underscores the substantial work to be done in preparing teachers with an understanding of the overarching cultural myths and majoritarian stories that may be guiding their practice.

Authors

• Kara Mitchell Viesca, University of Colorado - Denver

• Aubrey Scheopner Torres, Education Development Center, Inc.

• Joan Barnatt, Elon University

• Peter Piazza, Boston College