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10 SES 02 B: Equity, Social Justice and Moral Values in Teacher Education
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10. Teacher Education Research
Paper Justice-Oriented Teacher Preparation in Florida: Voices Against Divisive Concepts Legislation University of Florida, United States of America Presenting Author:This study is part of a larger project that investigates how teacher educators (TEs) conceptualize/operationalize teacher-educating for social justice in university-based teacher preparation programs in the United States. We intentionally focus this sub-study on the state of Florida within the US because of ongoing divisive concepts legislation to fight against “woke” indoctrination, defunding and censoring ideas related to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs higher education and K-12 schools. Examples of this include signing legislation banning DEI initiatives, eliminating books from school libraries, and prohibiting public school educators from discussing systemic racism and gender. While attacks to this degree may not be widespread in Europe, the concept of “woke/wokism” has been used with right-wing media outlets and conservative parties in the UK (Cammaerts, 2022). The state of Florida is, in some ways, the canary in the coal mine—a warning of possible danger to come for TEs and teacher preparation programs in other countries who may, in the future, experience censorship legislation from their conservative politicians. Two research questions guide the study: 1) What are the experiences of Florida TEs with self-identified commitments to equity and social justice? 2) How has the current political climate in the state of Florida impacted TEs' commitments to social justice and equity in teacher preparation programs? Consistent with the conference’s theme about education in an age of uncertainty, this study sheds light on Florida TEs’ efforts to teach for social justice amidst a time of unpredictability and fear. As they navigate this uncertainty, this study can help the field better understand how these TEs continue to persist with critical hope to work toward a better society despite the challenges they face. More than “what, when, or how teachers do things,” teaching for social justice is connected to “how teachers think about their work and interpret what is going on in schools and classrooms; how they understand competing agendas, pose questions, and make decisions; how they form relationships with students; and how they work with colleagues, families, communities, and social groups” (Cochran-Smith, 2010, p. 454). Our study is informed by Bondy et al.’s (2017) justice praxis framework, which acknowledges the evolving ways of understanding and enacting justice in teacher education. While space limitations prevent us from elaborating on all seven contours of the framework, surrounding “justice” is Duncan-Andrade's (2009) notion of critical hope, or what Bondy et al. (2017) refer to as “radical hope.” Radical hope reminds educators that the path toward justice is a painful one but "despite the overwhelming odds against us making it down that path to change, we make the journey again and again because there is no other choice” (p. 191). Within this framework, justice must be enveloped in democratic practices (Ayers, 2009) that include listening deeply, discussion, and dissent. The remaining contours—critical sociological (Sensoy & DiAngelo, 2012), restorative (Ladson-Billings, 2015), wholly engaged (hooks, 1994), liberatory (Freire, 1970), and immersed in inquiry (Freire, 1970; Kumashiro, 2015)—offer TEs ways to think about transforming injustice within their contexts. Our study is also informed by Santoro and Cain’s (2018) notion of principled resistance, “a necessary and ethical response to mandates that conflict with [educators’] understandings about quality teaching and the role of education in a democracy” (p. 1). There are three general categories that engender principled resistance: pedagogical, professional, and democratic. Principled resistance is useful for our work because the TEs experience ethical dilemmas regarding teaching for social justice in a state that prohibits it. Our participants’ beliefs about the purposes of their work stand in direct conflict with the policies and practices they are expected to implement. Methodology, Methods, Research Instruments or Sources Used Our qualitative study provides insight into TEs’ perceptions of social justice education in the state of Florida in the US. A prospective list of participants was generated based on the researchers' professional networks and reviewing faculty profiles across the various institution’s websites across the state. We visited institutions’ College of Education websites and identified faculty members of teacher preparation programs. We intentionally chose diverse educational settings and sought faculty from large and small colleges across different regions, public and private institutions, Predominantly White Institutions (PWIs) and Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). We examined websites for faculty research interests, courses, and publications for keywords (e.g., social justice, inclusion, diversity, anti-racism) that indicated a commitment to social justice. In total, 37 TEs were contacted, and 10 consented to participate. Nine participants were female and one was male. In terms of race, 4 are Black, five are White, and one is Asian. Two of the 10 are part of the LGBTQ+ community. They represented all regions across the state and eight of the 10 taught in public, PWIs. Participants were provided with a $50 Amazon gift card for their time. The TEs engaged in a semi-structured Zoom interview that was recorded and transcribed. The average interview lasted 58 minutes and sought to understand their experiences as justice-oriented TEs in Florida. We asked questions about the terms they use and why, their larger goals, and their practices as TEs. We also asked follow-up questions based on their responses. For example, when a participant talked about what was hard about teaching for social justice, we asked them if they could give us an example or tell us more. Interestingly, none of our interview questions explicitly asked about divisive concepts legislation but every participant brought this up. Drawing on Charmaz’s (2014) constructivist grounded theory guidelines to analyze the data, we engaged in a process of initial coding using in vivo codes, focused coding, and analytic memo writing. The initial coding informed our decisions about defining conceptual categories, while focused coding guided the synthesis of larger chunks of data to make analytic interpretations of participants’ experiences. Currently, we are developing analytic memos to help us reflect on emergent themes in the data to help us “lead to a richer and more powerful explanation of the setting, context, and participants” (Janesick, 2011, p. 148). Conclusions, Expected Outcomes or Findings Data analysis is ongoing, and we have identified four preliminary findings from our interviews with Florida TEs. The current political climate has a chilling effect: TEs repeatedly described a heightened sense of fear for engaging in justice-oriented teacher educating. Those in public institutions especially acknowledged a lack of institutional support: “My institution has explicitly expressed that they will not support me or my colleagues, that any risks that we take for the purpose of our convictions and our own research to really delve into these issues that they're not sticking their necks out to protect us” (Tina1). Engaging in subversive practices: Participants shared that even in the context of fear, they engaged in subversive practices to continue teaching in socially just and equitable ways. Guided by their moral and ethical reasons for this work, they expressed that they do not alter their instructional practices; many shared that they need to teach in more creative ways. Remaining steadfast in their commitment to social justice: Despite current legislative efforts to censor critical conversations about race, gender, identity and systemic oppression, TEs expressed a firm commitment to teaching with a social justice praxis. For example, Tasha expressed, “I've still unapologetically, I have not changed who I say I am. Anything that's public facing still articulates the same person. All of the courses that I have designed, are still the same.” Participants expressed that the importance of these concepts to educators who teach K-12 students and minoritized communities outweighs the risk of silence. Institutional funding influences TEs perceptions of safety: TEs employed at state-funded public institutions expressed increased feelings of fear, trepidation, and concern regarding job security, scholarship, and personal safety. Contrarily, TEs at private institutions tended to vocalize feelings of empowerment, freedom, and support to engage in teaching for social justice. References Bondy, E., Beck, B., Curcio, R., & Schroeder, S. (2017). Dispositions for critical social justice teaching and learning. Journal of Critical Thought and Praxis, 6(3), 1-16. Cammaerts, B. (2022). The abnormalisation of social justice: The ‘anti-woke culture war’ discourse in the UK. Discourse & Society, 33(6), 730-743. Charmaz, K. (2014). Constructing grounded theory. Sage. Cochran-Smith, M. (2010). Toward a theory of teacher education for social justice. In Hargreaves, A., Lieberman, A., Fullan, M., Hopkins, D. (Eds.), Second international handbook of educational change (pp. 445-458). New York: Springer. Duncan-Andrade, J. M. R. (2009). Note to educators: Hope required when growing roses in concrete. Harvard Educational Review, 79(2), 181-194. Freire, P. (1970). Pedagogy of the oppressed. New York: Continuum. hooks, b. (1994) Teaching to transgress: Education as the practice of freedom. Routledge. Janesick, V. J. (2015). " Stretching" exercises for qualitative researchers. Sage. Kumashiro, K. (2015). Against common sense: Teaching and learning toward social justice, 3rd edition, New York: Routledge. Ladson-Billings, G. (2015). Just justice [American Educational Research Association Social Justice in Education Award Lecture video]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ofB_t1oTYhI. Santoro, D. & Cain, L. (2018). Introduction. In D. Santoro and L. Cain (Eds.), Principled resistance: How teachers resolve ethical dilemmas (pp. 1-15). Harvard Education Press. Sensoy, O. & DiAngelo, R. J. (2012). Is everyone really equal?: An introduction to key concepts in social justice education. New York: Teachers College Press. 10. Teacher Education Research
Paper Mentoring and Coaching as a supportive intervention to enable New Teacher Educators in their new roles in Higher Education 1University of Wolverhampton, United Kingdom; 2University of East London Presenting Author:The aim of the study is to explore: How can mentoring and coaching be used to support the transition of new teacher educators into higher education? The importance of the role of teacher educators cannot be under-estimated, and their impact on the outcomes for teacher trainees in initial teacher training provision is imperative to ensure that the future generation of teachers are well prepared for their roles. At a time where teacher retention is of great concern in a English context, where 30% of teachers leave the profession, as outlined in the Teacher Workforce Data Report (2022,23). Internationally, UNESCO reported similar concerns regarding teacher retention. It is imperative to develop high quality teachers,. The Teacher Educator's role is imperative in this process, especially at a time of uncertainty, where teachers can give children life-chances and hope. However, for many teacher educators, there are very few opportunities to develop to be able to make a smooth transition into their new roles and contexts. Czerniawski (2018) highlights that the term teacher educator implies all those involved in the development of future and current teachers. Czerniawski (2018) and Murray (2002) make the point that becoming a teacher educator can be a painful experience whereby the teacher educator needs to shed their former identity as a teacher and develop their novice identity as a teacher educator. However, during this transition period there is often no support in place to ensure that teacher educators can make the transition from their previous roles into their new role. This qualitative case study, evaluates how mentoring and coaching can be used as an intervention to provide a supportive transition for teacher educators into their new contexts, to enable them to flourish. Connor and Pokora (2017) define mentoring and coaching as learning relationships, and the study seeks to gain insights into how these learning relationships can help to create a sense of trust, belonging, and safety to enable teacher educators to engage effectively with their learners. Methodology, Methods, Research Instruments or Sources Used The study was conducted through the use of semi-structured interviews, across an academic year to evaluate how mentoring and coaching was used, and what the potential impact was for new teacher educators. Participants were recruited across universities in England, and Teacher Educator mentors and coaches were assigned to support them on their journey from the start of the new academic year, to the end of the academic year. Semi-structured interviews were conducted termly via Microsoft Teams, and recorded, transcripts were created and. In addition, the semi-structured interview transcripts were thematically analysed each term through the use of Braun and Clarke’s (2006, 2022) 6 phase thematic analysis framework. Data was thematically coded, analysed, and key themes were developed through a grounded theory approach as outlined in Cohen et al. (2018). All ethical considerations, approvals and the necessary consent was in place prior to any collection of data as outlined in the BERA (2018) guidance. Conclusions, Expected Outcomes or Findings The key findings from the project reflects that coaching and mentoring can have a positive effect on teacher educators’ transitions, providing that the coaches and mentors are well developed and skilled in their roles. As Teacher Educators developed in their confidence, intervention support had to be skilfully utilised to provide appropriate challenge and opportunities to find solutions independently through coaching approaches. Participants found it helpful to have a critical friend to enable them to unlock their potential within their new contexts. The co-constructive learning experience ensured that participants were able to navigate their new landscape in a collaborative professional way. References BERA (2018) Ethical Guidance, UK: BERA Braun, V. and Clarke, V. (2006) ‘Using thematic analysis in psychology’, Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3, pp. 77–101. Czerniawski, G. (2018), Teacher Educators in the Twenty-First Century: Identity, knowledge and research. UK: Critical Publishing. Murray, J. (2002) Between the Chalkface and the Ivory Towers? A Study of the Professionalism of Teacher Educators Working on Primary Initial Teacher Education courses in the English Education System Collected Original Resources in Education (CORE), 26 (3): 1 - 530. Cohen, L., Manion, L. and Morrison, K. (2018) Research methods in education, 8thed. London: Routledge. Connor, M. and Pokora, J. (2017), Coaching and Mentoring at Work: Developing Effective Practice. (3rd edition). London: Open University Press. 10. Teacher Education Research
Paper Preparing Social Justice-oriented Teachers: Teacher Educators’ Conceptualizations, Practices, and Concerns 1Boston College, United States of America; 2University of Florida, United States of America; 3University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR; 4Claremont Graduate University, United States of America; 5University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, United States of America Presenting Author:This study examines the work of teacher educators who strive to prepare teachers who can capably and equitably educate the next generation of young people for an increasingly complex, uncertain and inequitable world. Through our research, we seek to address the following question: How do teacher educators in university-based teacher preparation programs located in different contexts, conceptualize and operationalize their work to educate and nurture social justice-oriented teachers?
In answering this core question, we focused specifically on: a) the concepts and language these teacher educators choose to describe their work and why; b) the impact and influence of context (programmatic, institutional, political) on their practice; c) challenging or “hot” moments in their work preparing social justice-oriented teachers; and d) key pedagogies and practices these teacher educators incorporate into their teacher preparation curriculum.
Our research participants are all located in the U.S., but their aspirations for teacher candidates and the issues they are tackling transcend national borders and are global in nature. In 2021, UNESCO’s report Reimagining our futures together: A new social contract for education, called for “a new social contract for education that can repair injustices while transforming the future…grounded in human rights and based on principles of non-discrimination, social justice, respect for life, human dignity and cultural diversity” (p. iii). Similarly, the European Commission urges member states “to tackle inequalities from early years and to decouple social, economic, and cultural status, ethnic and racial background from educational attainment and achievement” (n.d.; https://education.ec.europa.eu/focus-topics/improving-quality/about-improving-quality para. 5). They echo educators across the globe who express commitments to equity (Cochran-Smith, et al., 2020; Darling-Hammond, 2017) and seek to “address the existing web of inequalities that perpetuate educational and social exclusions” (UNESCO, 2021) through social justice-oriented teacher preparation (Author et al., 2023).
Internationally, it seems then that “Equity is a fundamental value and guiding principle of education policy,…[and yet]…it is not necessarily actualised in education systems around the world” (OECD, 2018, p. 22), whether in Europe, Asia, Africa, North or South America. Indeed, the latest progress report indicates that progress towards achieving Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4: Ensure Inclusive and Quality Equitable Education and Promote Lifelong Learning Opportunities for All (https://sdgs.un.org/goals/goal4) is fair at best, with no targets met (UN, 2023). Societies around the world share much in common, including a collective and shameful past of historical inequity and discrimination such that all children have not received the care and education they need and deserve. These same societies have signed on to SDG #4, and are engaged in “the reality that the drive for societal improvement is an ongoing process that draws on a past, is explored in the present and seeks to influence the future” (ECER Call for Papers, 2024). As a global community, we must address two, intertwined imperatives: quality education and equitable/inclusive education for all, both of which need quality teachers as “key figures on whom possibilities for transformation rest” (UNESCO, 2021, p. 80). Yet quality, justice-oriented teachers depend on teacher educators, so understanding how and what teacher educators do in their work of educating teachers, is essential. Thus, our study aims to build this understanding of teacher educators’ social justice work with teacher candidates, using two theoretical frameworks as analytic lenses. First, we utilize Marilyn Cochran-Smith’s Theory of Teacher Education for Social Justice (2010), that specifies three aspects that are relevant to our study, namely: justice, practice and teacher preparation. Second, Bondy et al. (2017) offer a justice praxis framework adapted by Author et al. (2021), that allows us to deeply examine our respondents’ theorizing and practice in social justice-oriented teacher preparation. Methodology, Methods, Research Instruments or Sources Used This is a qualitative study of teacher educators committed to social justice teacher education. Using phenomenography which supports “different understandings of reality” (Marton, 1986, p. 28), we explore how this group of teacher educators conceptualize and enact their individual understandings of social justice-oriented teacher preparation. Our research team represents five different universities from California, Florida, Illinois, Massachusetts and New York. As leaders of each state-specific team, we all bring substantive experience as university-based teacher educators, and participated in a pre-pilot focus group for the purpose of refining our research design through open-ended exploration of concepts in relation to social justice and teacher preparation. This enabled us to clarify and calibrate our own understandings of social justice-oriented teacher preparation and finalize interview and research questions, criteria for sample selection, and data collection procedures. Each team leader secured ethics approval from their home institution and four of five have recruited eligible participants locally—full-time, university-based teacher educators engaged in teacher preparation who express commitments to social justice. Interviews were conducted using a common semi-structured protocol consisting of six open-ended questions. Three of the teams conducted focus group interviews in-person or on-line as needed to accommodate scheduling and transportation or location issues. The fourth team was required to conduct individual interviews out of ethics committee concern for complete anonymity for participants given the political climate of the state; most of these were conducted virtually via Zoom. To date, five focus groups (3-5 participants per group) have been held, along with 10 individual interviews. Interviews lasted 60-90 minutes, were audio-recorded and have been transcribed. We are currently engaged in preliminary data analysis using a reflexive thematic approach (Braun & Clarke, 2006). This approach “highlights the researcher’s active role in knowledge production” and affords “richer interpretations of meaning, rather than attempting to achieve consensus of meaning” (Byrne, 2021, p. 1393) It is a particularly appropriate approach when more than one researcher is involved in data analysis, as in our case, and maximum flexibility in interpretation is called for given multiple data sites and data sets, as well as our own positionality as experienced knowers who bring significant experience and knowledge about teacher preparation to the process. Our first sweep through the data according to our research questions has surfaced some early findings, which we outline below. These initial insights will be further interrogated using the theoretical lenses we have chosen. Conclusions, Expected Outcomes or Findings Initial findings indicate that teacher educators in our sample use different terms to describe similar commitments to preparing teachers for diverse school populations. Terminology aside, respondents were explicit about why they do this work—to serve young people and “make sure that (new teachers) go into these schools…and always keep the humanity of the individual…at hand.” Respondents also detailed barriers they must navigate in order to uphold their commitments to social justice-oriented teacher preparation. While barriers across sites included program, institutional and state/political barriers, context mattered in terms of which barriers affected participants most significantly. Policy differences were especially stark. For example, in Florida where diversity has been legislated out of the curriculum (book bans, content restrictions), teacher educators operate in a climate of fear, treading the fine line between their own commitments to equitable education for all students, and the law. Even where state policy was supportive, some respondents still saw a barrier that dictates what they must do in their programs. We also saw differentiation between institution-types, i.e., participants in private institutions did not voice the same fear as participants in publicly-funded institutions. Regarding practice, participants shared many thoughtfully-designed activities to engage student teachers in understanding diverse histories, interrogating their own biases, developing inclusive pedagogies, and recognizing inequities embedded in social institutions including schools. Yet, a critical finding beyond productive practices was that regardless of whether teacher educators seemed free or constrained to pursue social justice goals in teacher preparation, most respondents remain steadfast in their commitments. Even when state policy contexts have had “a chilling effect,” they seem undeterred from their purpose, but rather are employing creative ways to “circumvent around so that we can get certain things done,” subversively adapting practices such that core principles remain while appearing to conform to regulations. References Author et al. (2023). Author et al. (2021). Bondy, E., Beck, B., Curcio, R., & Schroeder, S. (2017). Dispositions for critical social justice teaching and learning. Journal of Critical Thought and Praxis, 6(3), 1-16. Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3(2), 77–101. https://doi.org/10.1191/1478088706qp063oa Byrne, D. (2022). A worked example of Braun and Clarke’s approach to reflexive thematic analysis. Quality & Quantity, 56, 1391–1412. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11135-021-01182-y Cochran-Smith, M. (2010). Toward a theory of teacher education for social justice. In A. Hargreaves, A. Lieberman, M. Fullan, & D. Hopkins (Eds.), Second International Handbook of Educational Change (pp. 445-458). New York: Springer. Cochran-Smith, M., Grudnoff, L., Orland-Barak, L., & Smith, K. (2020). Educating teacher educators: International perspectives. The New Educator, 16(1), 5-24. Darling-Hammond, L. (2017). Teacher education around the world: What can we learn from international practice? European Journal of Teacher Education, 40(3), 291-309. European Commission. (n.d.). European Education Area, Quality education and training for all. Accessed January 21, 2024, https://education.ec.europa.eu/focus-topics/improving-quality/about-improving-quality Marton, F. 1986. Phenomenography—a research approach to investigating different understandings of reality. Journal of Thought, 21(3), 28–49 OECD. (2018). Equity in Education: Breaking Down Barriers to Social Mobility, PISA. Paris: OECD Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1787/9789264073234-en UN. (2023). Sustainable Development Goals Progress Report, Special Edition. https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/report/2023/The-Sustainable-Development-Goals-Report-2023.pdf UNESCO. (2021). Reimagining our futures together: A new social contract for education. Paris: Author. | ||