Search results for: Social justice

The authors’ self-study examines their integration of concepts from the field of Disability Studies in Education (DSE) into their introductory special education and educational foundations courses in two different accredited teacher preparation programs. Using narratives and shared dialogues about their curricular deliberations, they explored the barriers and possibilities of bringing critical visions of disability into the dominant teacher education curriculum. While barriers such as their positioning as contingent faculty and graduate students hindered their adaptation of the “official” curriculum of their programs, they found that such changes afforded important possibilities for justice-oriented teacher preparation. They discuss their realization of DSE as the “null curriculum” in their programs and the need to break away from the curricular status quo in their courses. Their conclusions explore how the integration of DSE informed concepts generated unique opportunities for exploring social justice concepts with the next generation of teachers.

This ethnographic case study looks at the emerging teacher identities of pre-service teachers by examining their service learning experiences in a literacy programme for pre-school children from an urban poor community in the Philippines. Specifically, constructs of teacher’s roles, understandings of the goals of education, sense of self-efficacy, and identification to the teaching profession are explored from their situated encounters in a literacy programme. The relevance of reflection and mentoring during the teaching-learning process of service learning is likewise considered. Thematic analysis of observation notes, submitted portfolios, and interview transcripts revealed how pre-service teachers can learn more about themselves and their pivotal role in society particularly when their service learning is deliberately oriented towards social justice. Such findings on these situated encounters in service learning can provide valuable insights as to how a social justice approach to service learning is important to curriculum design and implementation of teacher education.

This study utilized cultural historical activity theory to explore the evolution of nine preservice teachers’ (PSTs’) conceptions of social justice teaching while enrolled in a social justice-oriented teacher education program. From three interviews conducted over one year, findings show that tensions PSTs encountered while student teaching in high-poverty schools predominantly shaped their thinking. PSTs’ conceptions of social justice teaching evolved to include navigating inequitable systems, loving students critically, and viewing social justice teaching as uniquely personal. Implications include the importance of teacher educators leveraging inevitable student-teaching tensions as learning opportunities to further PSTs’ commitment to social justice teaching.

Increasingly across the world, teachers are working with diverse groups of learners in inclusive school settings, as inclusion is seen as a strategy to promote social cohesion, citizenship and a more equitable society. Countries working towards this vision need to emphasise more effective teacher education programmes and systems that focus on enabling teachers to engage in inclusive practice in order to provide high-quality education for all learners. The purpose of this paper was to cast a light on different views of how to prepare teacher students for work in inclusive school settings. The aim is to gain knowledge and understanding of the organisation of initial teacher education at the University of Iceland.