Intersectional Justice for the Public Good

• In Event: Radical Reimaginings of Teacher Education for the Public Good

Abstract

The purpose of teacher education has always been contested terrain. While some feel teacher education should focus mainly on content and standards, the curricula, content, and standards of teacher education have been shown to carry political messages that reinforce Whiteness (Matias, 2016; Milner, 2013), ableism (Broderick & Lalvani, 2017), and cis-heteropatriarchy (Leonardi & Staley, 2015). Consequently, the authors of this paper believe teacher education must reject hegemonic norms and values, explicitly prioritizing intersectional justice to recognize and disrupt the multidimensional nature of systemic and systematic oppression for the public good.
To ensure that this equity-oriented intersectional commitment is substantive, explicit tenets of intersectional justice should be reflected in the mission of teacher education programs, advertising the aim and values of the program and the commitments of those involved. To ensure that such a mission thoroughly informs the teacher education program, and better align the axiological commitments of teacher candidates with their professional preparation, the authors believe the mission should explicitly complement the personal oath taken by teacher education candidates. As scholars with one foot firmly planted in teacher education, the authors of this paper constantly revisit the tensions and challenges of theory and practice. Over nearly two decades of involvement in teacher education in every region in the U.S., the authors lhave experienced the promise of thoughtful teacher education mission statements generated by committed scholars and practitioners, as well challenges actualizing these stated commitments in admissions processes, coursework, and student teaching placements. The authors have learned that integrating clear values, guidelines, and expectations requires a focused mindset and new paradigm. Borrowing from restorative justice theory, paradigm shifting for justice is a commitment to pedagogical stances that actively disrupt educational and social inequities while building infrastructure to support the important transformative work of teachers. The major thrust of restorative justice work is the design principle of making things right (Zehr, 2015; Pranis, 2005). Making things right by addressing wrongdoing and harm in education in the U.S. requires supporting teachers and teacher educators through a process of (re)imagining what they can do to enact and embody equity-oriented mission commitments. The authors expand four specific pedagogical stances – History Matters, Race Matters, Justice Matters, and Language Matters – to guide educators through the personal process of becoming the educator they wish to become, while grounding this work by shifting practitioners’ narratives and approach away from deficit views of students and their families and communities (Author, 2018).

Authors

• Subini Ancy Annamma, Stanford University

• Maisha T. Winn, University of California - Davis