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Stop, dismantle and reimagine teacher preparation programs: an examination of racial justice practices of beginning preservice teachers…
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Stop, Dismantle and Reimagine Teacher Preparation Programs: An Examination of Racial
Justice Practices of Beginning Preservice Teachers Who Attended the Social Justice-
Oriented Preparation Program at Mills College
by
Veronica Nicole Parker
Rossier School of Education
University of Southern California
A dissertation submitted to the faculty
in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of
Doctor of Education
August 2022
© Copyright by Veronica Nicole Parker 2022
All Rights Reserved
The Committee for Veronica Nicole Parker certifies the approval of this Dissertation
David Cash
Marisa Smith
Cathy Krop, Committee Chair
Rossier School of Education
University of Southern California
2022
iv
Abstract
Teacher preparation programs are rooted in Whiteness, and there are gaps in research examining
social justice-oriented programs over time to determine their effectiveness. This study seeks to
explore factors of the social justice-oriented teacher preparation program (preprogram, program
and postprogram) at Mills College and its impact on building the capacity of future teachers to
meet the needs of Blacks and brown students. The results will be used to contribute to the body
of empirical research and reimagine teacher preparation programs.
The research study used a mixed-methods research design (quantitative survey and qualitative
interview) that includes a qualitative methodological approach to understand teachers' human
experience, positionality, and the social justice-oriented instructional practices they have
acquired by participating in the social justice-oriented teacher preparation program. The survey
included 19 preservice and intern teachers. Of the 19 survey participants, five participated in the
qualitative interview.
Findings for Research Question 1 resulted in the following four themes: (a) participants
alignment to a social justice definition; (b) lived experiences have had an impact on teaching for
social justice; and (c) positionality does shape one’s commitment to teaching for social justice,
and critical reflection as a tool to connect positionality to commitment to social justice. The
following themes emerged for Research Question 2: (a) Mills College teacher preparation
program’s mission, culture, and objectives align to students’ positionality, and students are
satisfied with the program; (b) Mills College teacher preparation program’s courses and
curriculum have prepared students to teach in urban schools and districts; and (c) courses,
professors, cohort members, and field experiences have had the greatest impact on teaching for
social justice. Lastly, findings for Research Question 3 produced the following themes: (a)
v
teacher preparation program students have evolved during their first year; (b) racial justice
practices centered the lived experiences of students; and (c) racial justice practices have had
somewhat of an impact; relationship-building was the main student outcome, and plans for next
year ranged from removing grading structures to centering a student’s home language. The study
presents recommendations and implications to support the findings, grounded in research to
support social justice in the classroom and beyond.
vi
Dedication
To my curious, outgoing, and tenacious nieces, nephews, and God kids, the closest young people
to me who are experiencing our education system in its current state. Know that you are more
than enough, worthy, and capable of anything you put your mind to. The world may tell you
differently, but know that your Auntie and God Mom believe in you and are working hard to
reimagine an education system and educators who will honor you for the unique individual you
are; who will respect your cultural heritage, and speak to it; who will speak life into you and
have high expectations for you; and who will cultivate your identity, confidence, and love for
learning and exploration.
To all the young people in our public education system, I dedicate this dissertation to you. It is
your birthright to have access to quality education and sit in classrooms with an educator who
will honor and respect who you are, your lived experiences, and your dreams. You deserve a
self-aware, anti-racist, culturally competent, and critically conscious educator. I will work with
future educators to examine who they are, their positionality, intersectionality, values, beliefs,
and more to ensure they are intellectually, emotionally, and mentally prepared to lead you in
their classroom.
vii
Acknowledgements
Participation in and completing this dissertation would not have been made possible if it
had not been for God choosing me to be a vessel for the good of his sons and daughters. God, I
thank you for this opportunity, and I thank you for grace, peace, strength, compassion,
understanding, and an open mind and heart as I have undergone the process of learning and self-
discovery in this program.
To my family, thank you for their unwavering love, support, and encouragement for me
throughout this process. The calls, the text messages, and the number of times you have watched
King have been extremely valuable. Dad, you have been my number one champion. The three-
minute breaks spoke life into me, affirmed me, and left me feeling like I was meant to be a vessel
of God’s will. Thank you for taking an active interest in my studies and research and offering
your wisdom and intellect to challenge my thinking and advance my studies.
To my Sandz, my confidant, my therapist, thank you! Sister Healing Circle and the
endless conversations we have had around healing, self-love, boundaries, joy, peace, rest,
restoration, and connection has evolved me into the woman I am today – the woman who no
longer suffers from imposter syndrome and disconnection from my body and experiences.
To Rossier School of Education, thank you for choosing me to be a part of this program. It is the
professors, content, curriculum, discussions, and more that I found my voice, my purpose, and
my passion for education and serving all students, including those from the most marginalized
backgrounds. I will continue to fight for a quality education for all.
viii
Table of Contents
Abstract .......................................................................................................................................... iv
Dedication ...................................................................................................................................... vi
Acknowledgements ....................................................................................................................... vii
List of Tables .................................................................................................................................. x
List of Figures ................................................................................................................................ xi
Chapter One: Overview of the Study .............................................................................................. 1
Background of the Problem ................................................................................................ 2
Statement of the Problem .................................................................................................... 4
Purpose of the Study ........................................................................................................... 4
Research Questions ............................................................................................................. 5
Significance of the Study .................................................................................................... 7
Limitation and Delimitations .............................................................................................. 7
Definition of Terms ............................................................................................................. 7
Organization of the Study ................................................................................................... 9
Chapter Two: Literature Review .................................................................................................. 10
Pre-Colonization ............................................................................................................... 10
Post-Colonization .............................................................................................................. 11
Resegregation of Schools .................................................................................................. 12
Structural and New Racism .............................................................................................. 14
Educational Policy and Its Failure of Black Students ....................................................... 22
Conclusion ........................................................................................................................ 29
Chapter Three: Methodology ........................................................................................................ 30
ix
Selection of the Population and Sample ........................................................................... 31
Design Summary ............................................................................................................... 32
Methodology ..................................................................................................................... 33
Instrumentation and Protocols .......................................................................................... 34
Data Collection ................................................................................................................. 34
Data Analysis .................................................................................................................... 36
Validity and Reliability ..................................................................................................... 36
Summary ........................................................................................................................... 37
Chapter Four: Results ................................................................................................................... 38
Participants ........................................................................................................................ 41
Results for Research Question 1 ....................................................................................... 46
Results for Research Question 2 ....................................................................................... 60
Results for Research Question 3 ....................................................................................... 72
Summary ........................................................................................................................... 87
Chapter Five: Recommendations and Implications ...................................................................... 89
Findings ............................................................................................................................ 92
Implications and Recommendations for Practice ............................................................. 98
Limitations and Delimitations ......................................................................................... 102
Future Research .............................................................................................................. 102
Conclusions ..................................................................................................................... 104
References ................................................................................................................................... 106
Appendix A: Interview Protocol ................................................................................................. 116
Research Questions ......................................................................................................... 116
Appendix B: Survey Protocol ..................................................................................................... 122
x
List of Tables
Table 1: Interview Participants’ Demographics (N = 5) ............................................................... 42
xi
List of Figures
Figure 1: Participants Race ........................................................................................................... 43
Figure 2: Participants Gender ....................................................................................................... 44
Figure 3: Highest Degree Earned .................................................................................................. 45
Figure 4: Level of Agreement With Teaching for Social Justice Definition ................................. 47
Figure 5: Impact of Lived Experiences on Teaching for Social Justice ........................................ 51
Figure 6: Positionality and Commitment to Teaching for Social Justice ...................................... 56
Figure 7: Alignment of Mills College Program’s Mission, Culture and Objectives to
Student’s Positionality .................................................................................................................. 61
Figure 8: Level of Satisfaction With Mills College Teacher Preparation Program ...................... 65
Figure 9: Ranked Components of the Teacher Preparation Program From Greatest Impact
(8) to Least Impact (1; Top Three Ranks) ..................................................................................... 68
Figure 10: Evolving During the First Year of Student Teaching .................................................. 73
Figure 11: Impact of Racial Justice Practices Implementation ..................................................... 81
1
Chapter One: Overview of the Study
In the last decade, social justice has become more widely used to describe the mission of
U.S. teacher preparation programs. Social justice is redefining what it means to have educational
equality; it demands equity for all students. Social justice in education focuses on the
experiences of marginalized groups and inequities in educational opportunities and outcomes
(Furman, 2012). Preservice teacher education programs have attempted to improve the
preparation of teachers for diversity by making structural and curricular changes to their
programs (McDonald, 2005). Social justice-oriented teacher preparation programs prepare
teachers to teach in culturally responsive ways and act as critical change agents in schools and
society (Whipp, 2013). Literature on social justice-oriented teacher education and culturally
responsive teaching (Ladson-Billings, 2001, 2009; Villegas & Lucas, 2002) suggests socially just
teachers: create classroom climates that are warm and demanding; affirm and sustain their
students’ cultural backgrounds by drawing from their funds of knowledge (languages, histories,
cultural practices); and advocate for curricular and policy changes that promote more equitable
educational opportunities.
In teacher preparation programs, critics of social justice argue that the inclusion of social
justice advances progressive and political goals at the expense of traditional academic learning
goals. Critics have also contended that social justice is undertheorized (Cochran-Smith et al.,
2010). When examining the demographics of teachers entering or currently in the profession,
there is a clear need to implement social justice programs to respond to and meet Black and
brown students' unique needs. Demographic trends reveal that students of color will constitute
more than 50% in public schools by the middle of this century, and the number of English
language learners (ELLs) and students living in poverty will continue to rise (Ladson-Billings,
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1999b; Villegas & Lucas, 2002). In California in 2019, of the approximately 6.2 million students
enrolled in K–12 public education, 62% were students of color, 19% were ELLs, and 61% came
from a socioeconomically disadvantaged background (Education Data Partnership, 2003;
California School Dashboard, 2019). However, currently practicing and prospective teachers
remain primarily White (80%), female, and middle class (Plachowski, 2019). This study will
examine how to embed social justice practices within teacher preparation programs to prepare
future educators to meet the needs of Black and brown students.
Background of the Problem
Black people continue to “fight for our lives” (Ladson-Billings, 2000, pg. 3). The Black
community is fighting multiple pandemics—COVID–19, racial injustice through the heinous
murders of Black human souls, and inequities in our educational system that perpetuates the
school-to-prison pipeline. When we fight for quality education, we fight for our lives (Ladson-
Billings, 2000). In this fight is the dire need to build the capacity of current and future educators
to understand, value, and respond to the unique needs of Black and brown students.
Teacher education programs are rooted in Whiteness (Grosland & Matias, 2016). There
are few teacher preparation programs designed to effectively meet the unique needs of Black
students and our cultural experiences (Ladson-Billings, 2000). Two-thirds (62%) of new teachers
reported feeling unprepared because they have not been adequately prepared to teach children
from cultural and linguistic backgrounds different from their own and need to learn more specific
skills (Banks, 2015). The current research on teacher preparation is situated in major economic,
social, and political forces and modes of thought. The current evolved trends over the past 50
years in teachers’ education include unprecedented attention to teaching quality and
accountability; changing conceptions of how people learn and what they need to know to thrive
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in a knowledgeable society, and increasingly diverse student populations with growing social
and school inequality (Cochran-Smith & Villegas, 2015). Instead of understanding students’
culture, prospective teachers construct culture simultaneously as both the problem and the
answer to their struggles with students of color (Ladson-Billings, 2006).
There is a deficit paradigm in the literature on social justice-oriented teacher preparation
programs (Ladson-Billings, 2000). Little empirical research has looked at the development of
socially just teachers over time or attempted to link particular elements of a teacher education
program to the enactment of socially just teaching practices (Whipp, 2013). A social justice-
oriented program prepares teachers for specific urban contexts, unpacks the urban terminology,
and assists in developing sociocultural consciousness, culturally responsive pedagogies,
consciousness-raising, and advocacy (Craig & Hammerness, 2016; Whipp, 2013). Shah and
Coles (2020) argues that social justice and race-focused teacher education notice the impact of
race and racism in learning settings and can make antiracist teaching more traceable for
preservice teachers. Of the available literature, racial justice strategies include: a critical
reflection of self as a racial, gendered, and cultural individual; cultural and racial awareness;
cross-cultural experiences before and during teacher preparation; program course content and
field experiences that challenged previous thinking; digital storytelling to deconstruct Whiteness;
enlisting contributions from all students, including marginalized students, in the class and
connections between students; implementing an actionable and measurable curriculum to track
improvement; constant discourse and comfort with dissent; creating a safe and supported space
for students; and managing the interests of the community and stakeholders within the
community (Grosland & Matias, 2016; Milner, 2006; Whipp, 2013). Social justice-oriented
teacher preparation programs and racial justice practices are increasingly salient because the
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student population continues to grow in diversity. Educators are charged with meeting learners
where they are and increasing their outcomes.
Statement of the Problem
Examinations of teacher preparation programs with a social justice focus have revealed
gaps in the knowledge and understanding of these programs. Very little empirical research is
conducted to examine the quality and effectiveness of social justice-oriented teacher preparation
programs and their impact on student learning outcomes. In general, the research that has been
undertaken has left more questions than answers. Some of the gaps in current empirical research
include: features in the preparation program are looked at through a focus on only individual
courses rather than across the program; not understanding the differences of teachers’
background experiences; lack of emphasizing the significance of identity concerning social
justice in programs; the lack of focus on the development of teachers’ capacity to respond to the
needs of Black and brown students in an equitable manner; and the silence of literature focused
on the preparation of teachers to teach Black students (Ladson-Billings, 2000; McDonald, 2005).
Purpose of the Study
The purpose of this study is to examine factors of a social justice-oriented teacher
preparation program (preprogram, program, and post-program) and its impact on building the
capacity of future teachers to meet the needs of Black and brown students and improve their
academic outcomes. An anti-racist research methodological approach is imperative to this
research study. Anti-racist research places the minoritized at the center of analysis by focusing
on lived experiences and oppressions (Dei & Johal, 2005). A qualitative methodological
approach is appropriate because the study seeks to understand teachers' human experience, their
positionality, and the social justice-oriented practices they have acquired by participating in the
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program. The quantitative survey approach will emphasize that precise measurement and
structured analysis research can lead to a full understanding of reality (Lochmiller & Lester,
2017). The semi-structured interviews will allow the researcher to include structured questions to
obtain specific data from preservice teachers who attended a social-justice-oriented teacher
preparation program at a liberal arts women’s college and allow flexibility in the questions
provided. Semi-structured interviews also offer the opportunity to have a more conversational
style of interviewing and engagement to truly understand those lived experiences inside and
outside the classroom (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016).
Research Questions
This research study intends to answer the following questions:
1. How do teacher preparation program students’ positionalities impact their
engagement in the program?
2. How do teacher preparation programs implement racial justice practices across the
entire program, including coursework, field placement, and during the first year of
teaching?
3. What are the racial justice practices of new pre-service teachers who attended the
Mills College social justice-oriented teacher preparation program?
This study examines the racial justice practices of beginning preservice and intern
students in a social justice-oriented teacher preparation program at a liberal arts women’s
college. The sociocultural conceptual framework was selected for this research study because it
provides concepts essential for understanding the process of integrating social justice into teacher
preparation programs. McDonald (2005) asserts sociocultural theory starts from the premise that
a complex charge such as teacher preparation for diversity is a problem of teacher learning. The
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sociocultural theory addresses who teachers are, where schools are located, and the types of
resources available. The sociocultural theory uses three interrelated units of analysis, i.e., a
program as a whole, individual university courses, and clinical placements. These units of
analysis are the basis for choosing this conceptual framework and how the relationships are
represented.
The problem of teacher learning focused on preservice teachers’ positionality, the impact
of implicit bias on the learning process, understanding anti-racist ideologies, and unlearning and
re-learning from social justice. The examination of the social justice-oriented teacher preparation
program at a liberal arts women’s college (culture, mission, goals, objectives, and faculty) is
another unit of analysis for the sociocultural theoretical framework. The sociocultural theory
says the college’s mission acts to frame the goals, purposes, and practices of the system as a
whole and the courses (Engeström & Miettinen, 1999; Scott, 1998). If the mission of social
justice is interwoven across all aspects of the program, there should be a greater sense of
coherence for students and enable learning (Grossman et al., 1999). The program’s curriculum
facilitates the implementation of social justice and preservice teachers’ opportunities to learn.
Grossman et al. (1999) posits conceptual tools are the principles, frameworks (anti-racist), or
guidelines that preservice teachers use to guide their decisions about teaching and learning.
These may include general, applicable theories, such as culturally responsive teaching, critical
reflection, constructivism, and instructional scaffolding, or more philosophical views on
schooling, such as social justice. The teacher preparation program prepares preservice and intern
teachers to teach in society’s most marginalized communities. Preservice and intern teachers
must be placed at schools that could benefit the students while developing their teaching skills to
sustain the learning program and effectively implement the racial justice practices.
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Significance of the Study
The research study will assist in filling the gaps in empirical research on the examination
of social justice-oriented teacher preparation programs, including preparing teachers to teach
Black and brown students. By filling these gaps, teacher preparation programs for social justice
can be more effective in increasing learner outcomes.
Limitation and Delimitations
Scholars have critiqued the accumulation of small-scale qualitative studies that are
narrowly focused and do not produce generalizable outcomes that support the need for further
research. The sample size for this research study will be relatively small. Given this, an
anticipated limitation will be generalizations for the larger population cannot be made. Although
this research study aims to impact and improve the learning outcomes for Black and brown
students, it does not examine this impact during the study's timeframe.
Definition of Terms
• Critical race theory or CRT is a theoretical and interpretive mode that examines the
appearance of race and racism across dominant cultural modes of expression (Purdue,
1970).
• English Language Learners are students from non-English speaking homes learning
English (Renaissance, 2015).
• Intersectionality refers to the interconnected nature of social categorizations such as
race, class, and gender apply to a given individual or group (Crenshaw, 1989).
• Racial justice is the systematic fair treatment of people of all races, resulting in
equitable opportunities and outcomes for all (Williams College, 2020).
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• Social Justice is a concept holding that all people should have equal access to wealth,
health, well-being, privileges, and opportunity (Investopedia, 2020).
• Sociocultural theory starts from the premise that a complex charge such as teacher
preparation for diversity is a problem for teacher learning. The sociocultural theory
addresses who teachers are, where schools are located, and the types of resources
available. The sociocultural theory uses three interrelated units of analysis: a program
as a whole, individual university courses, and clinical placements (McDonald, 2005).
• Teacher candidate is a student who is participating in a professional teacher education
program and preparing to become a certificated educator but is not yet graduated (IGI
Global, 2021).
• Teacher Preparation Program is teacher preparation program is designed to prepare
undergraduate and graduate students to become licensed teachers. Programs can offer
students specialized coursework in the grade level and subjects they are interested in
teaching (Study, 2020).
• Whiteness encompasses various elements such as colorblind racism (Bonilla-Silva,
2010), White racialization (Frankenberg, 1993; Ignatiev & Garvey, 1996; Thandeka,
1999), White racial identity (Helms, 1990), Whiteness as property and economic
advantage (Harris, 1993; Oliver & Shapiro, 1997), Whiteness as hegemonic
(Morrison, 1992), possessive investment in Whiteness (Lipsitz, 2006), White
abolition (Ignatiev & Garvey, 2007), and White privilege (McIntosh, 2001;
Rothenberg, 2008).
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Organization of the Study
This dissertation is organized into five chapters. Chapter One provided an overview of
the study and introduced data and literature to present the root causes and the theoretical
framework and researchers’ questions guiding the study to prepare future teachers to teach Black
students adequately. Chapter Two presents a literature review in the following three areas:
historical context of racism in education and policy implications, teacher preparation and barriers
to racial justice practices, and better-preparing teachers for urban settings. Chapter Three
describes the methodology selected for this research study and includes sample and population
selection, interview and survey questions, data collection, and data analysis. Chapter Four is a
report of the research findings. Chapter Five is composed of a summary of findings, implications
for practice, conclusions, and recommendations. References and appendices are included in the
conclusion of this research study.
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Chapter Two: Literature Review
The historical context of racism in education discussed in this section dates to 2000
B.C.E. with the establishment of the first university in Egypt. Pre-colonization, education in
Africa was highly regarded and based on heritage knowledge–connecting place, spirit, and body.
Post-colonization, whether freed or enslaved, Black people still placed high regard on education,
even when denied, at the risk of being harmed.
Pre-Colonization
Africans residing on the African continent engaged in educational experiences rooted in
place, land, and community (Greenwood, 2009). The knowledge attained by Africans was anti-
oppressive and transformed into intellectual thoughts (Dei, 2012). Education did not just include
the study of literature and history but was inclusive of the body, mind, and soul to acknowledge
the power of ancestral knowing (King, 2005). The first university in Egypt, established around
2000 B.C.E., taught advanced concepts in medicine, mathematics, science, and astronomy
(Asante, 1990; Diop, 1974).
Heritage knowledge, a type of African knowledge, affirms spirituality as a site of
knowing and further argues that knowledge and resistance are mutually exclusive (King, 2005).
Heritage knowledge, depicted by a philosophy of world sense, is a system of thought and
ontologies speaking to the realities and workings of the cosmos and the nexus of nature, society,
and culture. The uncertainty of knowledge is appreciated, along with the power of not knowing.
The fear of not knowing is embraced and inconsequential in African education (Dei, 2012).
Education in Africa exemplified the idea of knowledge as a body of epistemology connecting
place, spirit, and body (Denzin et al., 2008). In African education, the spiritual is personified, and
the learner’s spiritual identities are an instrumental part of the education process. Spiritual
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identity is connected to nature and mother earth, inner self or soul, and physical and social
surroundings (Dillard, 2000).
Post-Colonization
Whether enslaved or freed, Africans have always placed a high value on education.
Through the transatlantic slave trade, 12.5 million people were kidnapped from Africa and sent
to America between 1525 and 1866 (Solly, 2020). When Thomas Jefferson first articulated the
relationships between popular education and free society, he expressly excluded the teaching of
enslaved children believing that peace, prosperity, and civilization depended on the containment
and repression of literate culture among its enslaved population. Between 1830 and 1835,
teaching enslaved children to read and write was a crime. By 1860, 5% of enslaved people had
learned to read even though it was considered against the law (Anderson, 1988). Black families
placed a high value on education at the risk of their own lives in many cases.
The Emancipation Proclamation was signed on January 1, 1863, although it took an
additional two and half years to enact (Solly, 2020). Immediately after being freed, ex-slaves set
out to create an education system for their people. Schools in their education system were
designated for Black students and led by Black educators. By 1865, 14 southern states had
established 575 schools for the 71,779 Negro and White children in regular attendance
(Anderson, 1988). In 1866, The Freedmen’s Bureau closed all black schools under their
authorization. However, the Louisiana Educational Relief Association was organized to
disseminate the principle of education. Ex-slaves initiated and sustained schools whether or not
northern aid was available. Planters, with few exceptions, viewed black education as a distinct
threat to the racially qualified form of labor exploitation upon which their agrarian order
depended. Mass education was necessary for White children to be properly prepared to maintain
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the supremacy of the White race (Anderson, 1988). White people intentionally denied Black
families the right to educate themselves to maintain an economic system rooted in white
supremacy. When it became clear that black gains in literacy and operating schools would not be
reversed, the notion of schooling was reframed as an opportunity to socialize Black and White
children and instill an acceptance of the Southern racial hierarchy.
Resegregation of Schools
Brown v Board of Education formally ended de jure racial segregation in public spaces in
1954 (Dixson et al., 2013). Unfortunately, the historic supreme court decision did not achieve its
primary purpose of integrating America’s public schools. More than 65 years after the court
ruling, the more the specific mechanism—policies and contexts—of racial segregation in
education change, the more solidified the hierarchies of status and prestige that perpetuate
segregation remain the same (Cabral et al., 2019). Resegregation of schools only reemphasizes
racial identity's salient role (Dixson et al., 2013). Glenn (2012) argues evidence used to support
the notion that resegregation is still prevalent is included in three categories of data: (a)
decreasing the exposure of Black and Hispanic students to White students (Orfield and Lee 2004,
2006; NAACP 2005); (b) increasing isolation of Black and Hispanic students in predominantly
non-White schools (Orfield and Lee 2004, 2006; NAACP 2005); and (c) isolation of White
students in predominantly White schools (Orfield and Lee 2004, 2006; NAACP 2005). Orfield
and & Jarvie (2020) presents data from 2018 showing an uptick in racial segregation in the
south. Since 1988, Black students attending intensely segregated schools has increased from 32%
in 1988 to 40% in 2018. When examining the data by region in the United States, segregation in
the South, for example, has gone from 24% Intensely Segregated schools in 1988 to 37%
Intensely Segregated schools in 2018. Today, racial segregation remains grounded in a belief
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system of Black and Latinx inferiority – a racial hierarchy of valued knowledge and culture, and
thus a racialized understanding of “good” schools and students (Cabral et al., 2019).
The nation’s public school system remains rooted in racial inequalities based on
residential patterns and resources between schools in wealthier neighborhoods and economically
disadvantaged neighborhoods. School resegregation is a salient societal issue that deserves
immediate attention from all stakeholders. Public schools tend to have a large student of color
population and may receive free or reduced-price lunches (Blanchett, et al., 2009).
Although there has been a slight decline in racial segregation in the past 25 years, certain
neighborhoods and schools, children remain racially isolated. The color of a child’s skin,
neighborhood, and family’s socioeconomic status determine what school they attend and the type
of education they receive. Neighborhoods shape schools, but schools shape neighborhood
choices, resulting in neighborhood composition (Owens, 2020).
Between 1980 and 2010, recent trends in neighborhood and school segregation include
modest declines in racial segregation and increases in economic segregation. Owens (2020)
posits measures determining whether households of different racial or income groups are
represented among neighborhoods show that residential segregation between Black and White
families within metropolitan areas declined modestly. Segregation between Whites and other
racial groups was lower and remained stable (De la Roca et al., 2014; Logan and Stults, 2011).
Black residents became less racially isolated by living in neighborhoods disproportionately
composed of their racial group, while Hispanic and Asian residents became more isolated due to
their growing population (De la Roca et al., 2014). Racial residential segregation among children
is higher than among adults and declined less during this period (Iceland et al., 2010; Jargowsky,
2014; Logan et al., 2001; Owens, 2017).
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School resource allocation is a contribution to resegregation. Teachers’ salary is one of
the largest expenses in the public education system. Teacher salary accounts for 81% of
educational expenditures nationally (U.S. Department of Education, 2007). The level of
resources provided directly impacts the student population at a school. Additionally, student body
composition affects teacher decisions on where to work. This results in increased teacher
turnover in high-poverty schools (Ingersol, 2001), and racially isolated schools (Freeman et al.,
2002), decreased teacher quality in high-poverty, high-minority schools (Lankford et al., 2002),
and increased pupil-teacher ratios (Picus, 1994). As a result, schools in marginalized
communities with high concentrations of poor and minority students have increased amounts of
teachers who are less prepared and less experienced than their peers who chose to teach in more
affluent communities.
Resegregation is a predictable outcome of changing student assignment policies
(Clotfelter et al., 2002; Orfield et al., 2003). Historically, Southern states intentionally
underfunded and segregated schools to deprive African American students of equal educational
resources and opportunities. This deprivation led to integration policies to equalize exposure to
higher-quality educational facilities and resources. There are long-term economic and
educational benefits of attending desegregated schools (Trent, 1997; Wells & Crain, 1994) and
harmful effects of attending segregated schools. Studies have found a relationship between
resegregation and increased dropout rates for minority populations (Houck, 2010).
Structural and New Racism
Racial, economic, and educational inequities are deeply entrenched in U.S. systems.
Racism is the conception or upholding of a racial hierarchy, supported through institutional
power (Solorzano et al., 2002). In education, racism has spanned from Americanization schools
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and Native American boarding schools from the 19th and 20th centuries (Spring, 1994) to the
socialization of inferiority in segregated schools serving African Americans (Du Bois, 1935;
Irons, 2002; Woodson, 1933) and Mexican Americans (Drake, 1927; Gould, 1932). More than
60 years after the Brown v. Board of Education decision, there is still a legacy of racially
separate and unequal schooling that millions of American children endure today (Johnson &
Nazaryan, 2019). Terms to describe how racism is still embedded in our educational system
include structural racism and new racism. Structural racism refers to how the history of racial
domination has influenced the organization and structure of society. Structural racism is evident
in public policies that place communities of color at a disadvantage. Examples are the redlining
and predatory lending practices by banks (Rothstein, 2017), unequal access to healthcare, healthy
food, and a clean environment (Gee & Ford, 2011; Wallace et al., 2017; Williams & Collins,
2001), school funding policies (Baker et al., 2020; Darling-Hammond, 2007), and assignment
patterns that result in the least experienced teachers working in disadvantaged schools
(Fensterwald, 2018). New racism is more covert, subtle, and hidden racism than what has been
seen in prior decades. New racism includes: (a) evaded racism, where equity-explicit discourse is
divorced from institutional analyses or concrete discourse on race and racism (this type of racism
is often used to avoid, silence, or invisibilize racism); (b) antiracist racism, where racially
inequitable policies and practice are masked as the solution to racism; and (c) everyday racism,
where the racism manifests on a micro or interpersonal level, and thus is often unrecognized or
viewed as insignificant (Kohli et al., 2017). New racism is activated when invisible, as found in
education policy.
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The Role of White Supremacy Culture in Schools
White supremacy culture is ingrained in most American social institutions and systems
(Wilson, 2018). White supremacy culture, in this context, is not about hate towards individuals.
Rather, it is about how a lack of understanding of the legal foundations, the various established
definitions, and how white supremacy culture tenets show up in our everyday experience are the
ways in which it is continuously perpetuated by society. The American laws used to construct
white supremacy culture include racial hierarchy, the distribution of power and resources, and
civil rights. Race is a social construct that lacks meaningful grounding in biological fact. Race-
conscious laws favored Whites over any other race, such as property rights, immigration, and
housing policies. The Civil Rights Act was intended to prohibit discrimination based on race;
however, the law shifted to a paradigm in which the distribution of rights was premised on
colorblind liberal individualism and post-racialism. Society believes race and racism have been
solved (Wilson, 2018).
There are several definitions used present day to understand white supremacy culture.
Wilson (2018) posits white supremacy culture is a political, economic, and cultural system where
Whites overwhelmingly control power and material resources. White dominance and non-White
subordination exist across many institutions and social settings. Jones and Okun (2001) asserts
white supremacy culture consists of ideas, thoughts, beliefs, habits, and actions grounded in
whiteness that is perceived as superior to the ideas, thoughts, beliefs, and actions of people and
communities of color. One does not have to be a white supremacist, or even White, to embody or
enact white supremacist culture. DiAngelo and Saad (2020) defines White supremacy culture as
an ideology, a paradigm, an institutional system, and a worldview that White people have been
born into by their White privilege. White supremacy is the historic and modern legislating,
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societal conditioning, and systemic institutionalizing of the construction of whiteness as
inherently superior to people of other races.
The role of white supremacy culture in schools is still undertheorized. White supremacy
operates in schools in the following ways: (a) meritocracy as property, (b) institutional violence
as colonialism, and (c) racial othering as racial selfing (Allen & Liou, 2019). Meritocracy is the
idea that Whites can achieve, and are expected to achieve, the intellectual (e.g., smartness and
academic promise) and material (e.g., diplomas and degrees, college access, and career choice)
benefits of their Whiteness. Institutional violence, as colonialism, is when people of color are
considered sub persons and perceived as burdens on the education system, under the racial
contract, and become students relative to Whites who are normalized students. Racial othering as
racial selfing is the notion that Whites are what people of color are not, a type of orientalism.
Orientalism is the political process where Whites define who and what is White due to
pathological constructions of people of color as the other (Allen, 2002b; Collins, 2000; Daniels,
1997; Deloria, 1998).
By way of the tenets, white supremacy culture is a part of our everyday experience in
education. White supremacy culture tenets are damaging because they are used as norms and
standards without being proactively named or chosen by the group. They also promote white
supremacy thinking. White supremacy culture characteristics are damaging to both people of
color and to White people because organizations that are people of color led or a majority people
of color can also demonstrate many damaging characteristics of white supremacy culture. The
tenets include perfectionism; a sense of urgency; defensiveness; quantity over quality;
individualism; only one, right way; right to comfort; the process is bigger, more; worship of the
written word; paternalism; either-or-thinking; power hoarding; fear of open conflict; and
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objectivity (Okun, n.d.).
Teacher Preparation and Barriers to Racial Justice Practices
The purpose of teacher preparation programs is to prepare future educators to be
responsive to and inclusive of the unique needs of diverse learners. Some future educators
possess deficit views of racially minoritized students because their past experiences and teacher
preparation programs do not properly prepare them to teach in urban settings.
Historical Context of Teacher Preparation
Historically, teacher preparation programs were not designed to prepare teachers to
educate students of color effectively. Several models substantiate this claim. From the late 1800s,
the first model was segregated normal schools established in Massachusetts for Whites to prepare
young men and women to accept self-regulating responsibility for classroom instruction
(Skinnell, 2013). Edward Sheldon, a superintendent in New York, established a second model.
This teacher training school used prescriptive components of practice-focused methods with a
consensus on what teachers need to learn and have the capacity to do (Forzani, 2014; Hollis,
1898). The third model, comprised of European educators led by German Philosopher, Johann
Friedrick Herbart, was established in the later 19th century (Hiner, 1971). The model
recommended that teachers learn five steps of instruction, including (a) preparation, (b)
synthesis, (c) comparison and abstraction, (d) definition, and (e) practical application (Ogren,
2005). A fourth model, the Commonwealth Teacher Initiative, was established during the 1920s
and was a White-only teacher training program with authentic consideration of the impact on
Black students. The Commonwealth Teacher Training Initiative provided a scripted approach to
teacher preparation used in segregated White spaces and not for Black children or children of
color (Dutro & Cartun, 2016). The fifth teacher preparation model was established at Stanford
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University in the 1960s. The goal of this model was to pinpoint the attributes and actions of
successful teachers and to support the restructuring of teacher education through a detailed
catalogue of teaching, similar to the Commonwealth model. Educators used the Stanford model
as a comprehensive approach to teacher training and competency-based teacher education
(Darling-Hammond & Sykes, 1999; Struyven & De Meyst, 2010).
The Lack of Preparation to Teach Black Students
The number of Black and Latino students in the American public education system is up
by 5.8 million. In contrast, between 1968 and 1998, White students declined by 5.6 million in the
same system. With the continuous uptick in the number of Black and Latino students in public
education, one would equate the preparation of teachers to meet the needs of Black and brown
students and their varied needs would be centrally embedded in and throughout teacher
education programs. However, this is not the case (Tillman, 2009). There are few, if any, teacher
education programs designed to meet African American students' needs. The unique needs of
African American students are rarely a focus of teacher preparation programs designed for urban
education (Ladson-Billings, 2000).
The literature on the preparation of educators to teach students of color is silent. There is
very little scholarly literature available that has been reviewed with a direct focus on preparing
teachers for African American students in urban schools (Tillman, 2009). Most of the available
literature on the topic places all African American children, regardless of economic or social
circumstance, within a deficit paradigm. The available literature reflects a generalized perception
that African American culture is not a useful rubric for addressing the needs of African
American learners and, thus, delegitimized in the classroom (Ladson-Billings, 2000). A reason
for this is that much of the educational research has relied on generic models of pedagogy that
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claim to be culture neutral, one best system, and American model (Olneck, 1995). Since
educators are not properly prepared to educate Black students, there tends to be a low academic
expectation, educators “teach down” to learners, and the curriculum is “watered down” (Tillman,
2009).
Attrition in Urban Settings
The lack of preparation to educate Black learners leads to attrition in the public education
system. On average, public-school teachers leave the profession within the first 3 years (U.S.
Department of Education, 2007). Teacher attrition in high poverty, racially segregated
communities is approximately 20% annually, with some educators transferring to other schools
or leaving the professional altogether (Ingersoll, 2004). The turnover of new teachers in
marginalized communities is most impacted. The University of Chicago’s Urban Education
(2009) asserts that some underserved schools lose half of their teaching staff every 3 three years.
The predictors of attrition include teacher characteristics, school setting characteristics, and
school climate (Djonko-Moore, 2016).
School desegregation was the beginning of educator attrition in urban settings. In the late
1960s and early 1970s, the vast majority of historically Black public schools were shut down
during the initial phase of school desegregation. Before then, Black educators thrived.
Nonetheless, school desegregation devastated an entire generation of Black educational
leadership and ended the careers of tens of thousands of African American teachers. Thirty-eight
thousand Black teachers and administrators lost their jobs in 17 southern and border states
between 1954 and 1964. Between 1984 and 1989, 21,515 African American teachers lost their
jobs (Anderson, 2005).
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A teacher’s race plays a role in attrition, with White teachers leaving at a higher rate than
Black teachers when assigned to a minority school (Scafidi et al., 2007; Borman & Dowling,
2008; Renzulli et al., 2011). Mueller et al. (1999) posits that White teachers have higher job
satisfaction and commitment to the profession when situated in schools with a majority of the
same race. Black teachers showed no differences in satisfaction or commitment based on race of
students or co-workers. School climate includes parental and community engagement, affecting
teacher attrition (Tye & O’Brien 2002; Elfers et al., 2006). Student behaviors such as tardiness,
lack of readiness, discipline problems, and repeated absences are other aspects of school climate
related to increased teacher attrition rates (Brill & McCartney, 2008; Tickle et al., 2011).
Additionally, ineffective school leadership and unresponsive administrators have been associated
with increased teacher attrition rates (Tye & O’Brien, 2002; Borman & Dowling, 2008).
There are several reasons why a high-quality educator will remain in an urban, high-
poverty school and/or district. One of the reasons has to do with race and tenure. Berry et al.
(2008) posits teachers who are African American, older, and more experienced define the profile
of teachers most likely to remain in their role beyond the first 3 years in a demanding school
setting. African American teachers believed they were well suited for teaching in an urban
environment. Salary is another indicator of whether a teacher will remain in an urban school and
district. Teachers in districts with higher salaries than nonteaching salaries in the same county
are less likely to leave teaching. A teacher is less likely to leave the profession if they are in a
district paying at the top of their salary in the county (Ondrich et al., 2008).
Racial Mismatch
The United States minority student population is steadily increasing, while the minority
teaching population is steadily declining. The dwindling Black workforce can be attributed to a
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variety of political, economic, demographic, and sociological factors affecting both Black
teachers and Black principals: (a) the decline in the number of college students declaring teacher
education; (b) the decline in Black college students; (c) widening career options for Blacks,
especially Black females; and (d) teacher competency (Irvine, 1998; pg. 503).
As the learner population in American schools becomes increasingly diverse, the teacher
workforce remains primarily White (80%; Sleeter, 2017). A majority White teaching workforce
does not positively impact Black students. White teachers work from within a hegemonic,
Western, epistemological framework, which often influences them to have lower expectations of
Black students and a lack of respect for their families and primary culture (Doug et al., 2008).
This notion is attributed to why Black students have not paralleled the academic performance of
their White counterparts (Doug et al., 2008). Ayers (1995) and Kohl (1998) posits little is known
about the effectiveness of White teachers on Black student achievement. An underlying tenet of
multicultural education is that all students benefit from information about or models of persons
with similar racial and cultural backgrounds (Manning & Baruth, 2004). The lack of knowledge
about this concept consistently undermines the efforts of teacher education programs across the
country to adequately prepare White teacher education students as future teachers of Black
students.
Educational Policy and Its Failure of Black Students
Educational policies that are supposed to be designed to increase the educational
outcomes of Black students are increasing their underrepresentation in academic outcomes,
punitive measures, and more. Educational policy efforts promote economic inequality, racialized
ideals of what an educator and educational leader should “look” and “act” like, and situates
efforts that empower students, communities, and/or educators of color as threats that must be
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silenced (Ard et al., 2013). Education policy inequality stems from not addressing racism as the
root cause. Ard et al. (2013) asserts that re-formulated education policy leads to curriculum and
assessment tool shifts but does not address the root cause that shapes public education.
Examples of national educational policies that proved to have adverse effects on Black
students include the zero-tolerance policy and the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). Hines et
al. (2018) asserts that zero-tolerance policies are a residual effect of state-sanctioned violence
against racialized and gendered bodies. Caton (2012) posits the zero-tolerance policy affirms the
creation of unfriendly school environments and poor relationships between students and teachers.
School personnel used the most punitive measures of the zero-tolerance policies, suspensions,
and expulsions of Black male students. Black girls were also subjected to harsh discipline
policies under zero-tolerance policies (Hines et al., 2018). In the United States, mass shootings
occur at predominantly White K–12 institutions. However, Black and brown students from
lower-income and working-class communities are most impacted by zero-tolerance policies
(Hines et al., 2018).
ESSA focuses on identity categories (such as race, gender, class, and linguistics), not on
the intersectionality thereof or how race does not operate as a silo (race, gender, social class, and
other parts of our identity are layered and form a mosaic). Although ESSA intended to reduce
achievement and opportunity gaps and racial disproportionality in school discipline, Black girls
continue to experience hyper-criminalization and policing. In an analysis of quantitative data
from Chicago Public Schools, the third-largest district in the United States, Black girls are
disproportionally the recipients of out-of-school suspensions. Black female students received
78% of all female out-of-school suspensions during the 2016–2017 school year (Evans-Winters
et al., 2018).
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Better Preparing Teachers for Urban Settings
There are more than 1,400 teacher preparation programs across the United States;
however, few are social justice-oriented (Lotomey & Milner, 2014). Of the social justice-
oriented teacher preparation programs, few studies have looked at the development of socially-
just teachers over time or attempted to link elements of a teacher education program to the
enactment of socially-just teaching practices (Whipp, 2013). Exploring the definition of urban
education, how urban education policy impacts schooling, and sociocultural theory will help to
contribute to the unknown impact of teacher preparation for social justice.
Defining Urban Education
The study of urban education and its impact on educational outcomes is complex because
there is no uniform definition. Milner (2012) asserts researchers, theoreticians, policymakers,
and practitioners in higher education do not necessarily possess a shared definition of what is
meant by urban education. Although urban education studies share definitions, they are
disconnected from one another. The urban education definitional gap has policy, practice, and
equity implications beyond words. By not having a uniform, common definition for urban
education, there is no real way to understand the magnitude of the phenomenon and the ability to
craft commensurate solutions in public education (Milner & Lomotey, 2014). Milner (2012)
posits that the definitional work, classification, and categorization are critical, foundational
aspects of our work and need to be developed.
A uniform, operationalized definition of urban education in the public system establishes
policy boundaries (Stone, 1977). Additionally, a uniform, operationalized definition shapes
educators' perceptions, understanding, expectations, practices, and teacher education (Jacobs,
2015; Milner et al., 2015; Schaffer et al., 2018). Current urban education definitions describe
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how districts include rich multiculturalism, and limited resources in dense urban populations.
The National Center for Education Statistics (2020) posits that in the largest 20% of urban school
districts, 80% of students are non-white. Urban education typically has some connections to the
people who live and attend school in the social context. The characteristics of those people and
surrounding community realities where the school is situated indicate that not all urban districts
and the people in them are “bad” (Milner, 2012).
To advance toward an urban education definition, Welsh and Swain (2020) explore the
following categories used to define urban education: (a) population /location, (b) enrollment, (c)
demographic composition of students, (d) resources in schools, (e) disparities and educational
inequality, (f) social and economic context. Milner (2012) offers three conceptual frames to
define schools in urban educational environments: (a) urban intensive, (b) urban emergent, and
(c) urban characteristic. Urban Intensive is used to describe social contexts concentrated in large,
metropolitan cities, such as New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Atlanta. Urban Emergent is
used to describe schools in cities that are large but not as large as those cities that are a part of
the Urban Emergent conceptual frame. Urban Characteristic schools are not located in big or
midsized cities but may be starting to experience some of the challenges that are sometimes
associated with urban school contexts in larger areas there were in the Urban Intensive and
Urban Emergent categories.
Sociocultural Theory and Teacher Preparation
Sociocultural theory is closely identified by Vygotsky, a psychologist from Russia
(Palincsar & Scott, 2012). Sociocultural theory is commonly used as an explanatory conceptual
framework in learning, culture, and social interaction (Howe & Mercer, 2012). McDonald (2005)
asserts sociocultural theory starts from the premise that a complex charge such as teacher
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preparation for diversity is a problem of teacher learning. Sociocultural theory addresses who
teachers are, where schools are located, and the types of resources available. Howe and Mercer
(2012) argues that sociocultural theory's essential elements are the role of talk in the classroom,
teacher-student talk; learning as a collaborative enterprise; and educational implications. The
sociocultural theory uses three interrelated units of analysis: (a) a program as a whole, (b)
individual university courses, and (c) clinical placements. When it comes to the mental,
sociocultural theory explains how individual mental functioning is related to the cultural,
institutional, and historical context (Palincsar & Scott, 2012). The sociocultural perspective
asserts that participation in social interactions and culturally organized activities play a role in
influencing psychological development. Wertsch (1991) proposed three major themes in
Vygotsky's writings that explain the nature of the interdependence between individual and social
processes in learning and development. The first theme is that individual development, including
higher mental functioning, has its origins in social sources. The second theme has identified
human action, on both the individual and social planes, is mediated by tools and signs. The last
theme is that the first two themes are best examined through genetic or development analysis
(Palincsar & Scott, 2012). The sociocultural theory provides a framework for how teachers
prepare students, and develop professionally and describes the process and the origination of
human intelligence in society (Shabani, 2016; Vygotsky, 1978).
Social Justice-Oriented Teacher Preparation Programs
The U.S. PK–12 public education system critically needs educators and leaders to affect
social policy changes. One area of focus to affect change is adopting social justice-oriented
teacher preparation programs. A social justice-oriented teacher preparation program prepares
future educators to demand equity for all students and challenge social, cultural, and economic
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inequities (Mills College, 2020). Research on social justice-oriented teacher preparation
programs shows that within the context of inequitable educational opportunities, particularly
along the lines of race, ethnicity, language, gender, and socioeconomic class, socially-just
teacher education aims to prepare teachers to teach in culturally responsive ways and act as
critical change agents in schools and society (Whipp, 2013). Nonetheless, there is a gap in
research addressing the impact of social justice-oriented teacher preparation programs and the
preparation of educators to teach in urban settings. Additionally, there is a lack of clarity and
consistency across programs on what teaching for social justice means and what experiences
support its development (Whipp, 2013).
Although there is existing research that examines practicing K–12 teachers’ effort to
teach for critical social justice in their classrooms, there is little connection between teacher
education programs and/or the impact of teacher practice in the classroom and student outcomes
(Aronson, 2020). Owuor and Sleeter (2011) argues there is a need for more research that follows
teachers through their teacher preparation programs and into their first years of teaching to
determine the extent and ways multicultural teacher preparation helps to become more effective
teachers. Also, there is a need for more research that compares and contrasts different models of
multicultural teacher preparation and generalizable data that can help advocate for teacher
preparation policy and program design. Of the available research, there is a connection between
the types of courses offered in teacher preparation and educators’ understandings of social justice
after participation in the program. Additionally, existing studies have found a connection
between the types of courses offered in teacher preparation and the teachers' understandings
gained from participation. More research needs to be conducted to understand the impact of
social justice-oriented teacher preparation programs fully.
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There are various models of social justice-oriented teacher preparation programs. Some
of which are designed to meet the needs of learners, while others are designed to situate future
educators in the everyday experience of learners’ environments. Urban teacher residencies are
the latest innovation for recruiting, preparing, and retaining teachers for high-need urban schools.
The newly emerged residency model situates teacher education in clinical apprenticeships to
leverage learning and practical experience in urban settings. A social justice-oriented teacher
preparation in San Francisco prepares future educators to teach in the many urban schools in the
city and experience their learners’ everyday environment by establishing a residency program.
Participants in this program understand the context as complex and layered, interrupting stigmas
associated with urban schools. Educators who participated in the teacher preparation program
felt prepared to teach in high-need urban schools upon completion (Apedoe et al., 2016).
Another example of a social justice-oriented teacher preparation program is out of New York
City. The Bard College teacher preparation program is context-specific and a means of looking
at general issues through a lens of how race and gender might shape learning, or the philosophies
and approaches of different school designs—about how these issues play out in the particular
setting of New York City (Craig & Hammerness, 2016). Educators participating in the Bard
College teacher preparation program indicated that upon completion of participation in the
program, they felt prepared to take the perspective that every individual child is unique and
understand the ways that race, gender, ethnicity, and personal experience shape students’ lives.
Additionally, the syllabi suggest students’ opportunities to learn about the relationship between
race, gender, and ethnicity and specifically about the schooling experiences of students of color
(Craig & Hammerness, 2016).
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Conclusion
The Chapter Two literature review provided a comprehensive overview of public
education, its impact on Black and brown students, and the need to examine teacher preparation
programs, and their alignment to social justice and building the capacity of future educators. The
literature review included the following: (a) historical context of racism in education and policy
implications, (b) teacher preparation and barriers to racial justice practices, and (c) better
preparing teachers for urban settings. The literature review presents teacher preparation programs
with an opportunity to reimagine how future educators are prepared to educate an increasingly
diverse student population. Chapter Three will present the research methodology to understand a
social justice-oriented teacher preparation program better.
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Chapter Three: Methodology
Currently, there are gaps in the knowledge and understanding of social justice-oriented
teacher preparation programs. There is very little empirical research that has been conducted to
examine the quality and effectiveness of social justice-oriented teacher preparation programs and
their impact on student learning outcomes. The gaps in current empirical research include:
looking at features in the preparation program through a focus on only individual courses rather
than across the program; not understanding the differences in teachers’ background experiences;
lack of emphasizing the significance of identity concerning social justice in programs; the lack of
focus on the development of teachers capacity to respond to the needs of Black and brown
students in an equitable manner; and the silence of literature focused on the preparation of
teachers to teach Black students (Ladson-Billings, 2000; McDonald, 2005).
The purpose of this study is to examine factors of a social justice-oriented teacher
preparation program at a liberal arts college for women and its impact on building the capacity of
future teachers to meet the needs of Black students and improve their academic outcomes. An
anti-racist research methodological approach is salient to this research study because it places the
minoritized at the center of analysis by focusing on lived experiences and oppressions (Dei &
Johal, 2005). The research study used a mixed-methods research design that includes a
qualitative methodological approach to understand teachers' human experience, positionality, and
the social justice-oriented practices they have acquired by participating in the social justice-
oriented teacher preparation program. The quantitative survey emphasized that research leads to
a full understanding of reality through precise measurement and structured analysis (Lochmiller
& Lester, 2017). The semi-structured interviews allowed the researcher to include structured
questions to obtain specific data from preservice teachers who attended the social justice-
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oriented teacher preparation program and allowed for flexibility in the types of questions
provided. Semi-structured interviews offered the opportunity to have a more conversational style
of interviewing and engagement to truly understand those lived experiences inside and outside
the classroom (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016).
This research study intends to answer the following questions:
1. How do teacher preparation program students’ positionalities impact their
engagement in the program?
2. How do teacher preparation programs implement racial justice practices across the
entire program, including coursework, field placement, and during the first year of
teaching?
3. What are the racial justice practices of new pre-service teachers who attended the
Mills College social justice-oriented teacher preparation program?
Selection of the Population and Sample
First-year preservice and intern student teachers who attended a liberal arts college for
women were interviewed and surveyed to understand the factors of their social justice-oriented
teacher preparation program (preprogram and program) and their impact on building their
capacity as future teachers to meet the needs of Black students and improve their academic
outcomes. The interviews and surveys conducted in this research study will inform the impact of
the social justice-oriented teacher preparation program, how other teacher preparation programs
can implement social justice coursework and practices, and the need for more teacher preparation
programs to implement social justice coursework practices.
The social justice-oriented teacher preparation program of study has a cohort model.
During any stage of the program (preprogram, program, and post-program), there are 20 to 30
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students in a cohort. This study focused on the cohort of 23 who were at the stage of being first-
year preservice and intern student teachers. Of the total number of students in this cohort, 19
completed the survey. Of the 19 included in the survey, the researcher interviewed five students
utilizing a virtual platform.
Qualitative studies use convenience, purposeful, and snowball sampling methods.
Purposeful sampling is used when selecting individuals or sites based on a certain criterion
(Lochmiller & Lester, 2017). Purposeful sampling was used to conduct interviews with
preservice and intern teachers to understand their preprogram and program experiences and how
those experiences have prepared them to teach in urban settings during their first year. The
criteria to identify and select students to participate in the interviews was analyzing demographic
survey responses. The demographic survey questions asked potential participants about their race
and ethnicity, gender identity, and teaching plans after the program. These questions were used
to invite a cross-section of student teachers to participate in the qualitative interviews.
Nonprobability sampling was used in this research study. The researcher included the
entire teacher preparation program cohort of 23 students in the study. Quantitative studies use
simple random sampling, systematic sampling, and stratified sampling (Lochmiller & Lester,
2017). Stratified sampling was used in this study. Stratified sampling was chosen because the
researcher wanted to ensure the characteristics of the individuals (and potential research sites)
included in the sample represent the characteristics of the individuals (and sites) in the broader
population.
Design Summary
An anti-racist research methodological approach is imperative to this research study.
Anti-racist research places the minoritized at the center of analysis by focusing on lived
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experiences and oppressions (Dei & Johal, 2005). The research study followed the following
steps: (a) formulating a research problem, (b) developing research questions, (c) identifying a
conceptual or theoretical framework, (d) selecting a research methodology, (e) selecting research
methods, and (f) determining an approach to data analysis (Lochmiller & Lester, 2017).
The research study included a mixed-methods approach. The mixed-methods approach
allowed the researcher to engage in conversation and reflection with the participants through a
qualitative data collection method. By way of survey, the quantitative research method allowed
the researcher to understand how the participants view their experiences as an educator in the
context of what they bring into the teacher preparation program and the classroom.
Methodology
The research study methodology included quantitative data from a survey and qualitative
data from open-ended interview questions conducted with teacher preparation program
preservice and intern teachers. Additionally, document analysis was conducted. The purpose of
using multiple data collection methods was to strengthen the study by offering several
perspectives on social justice-oriented teacher preparation programs. A qualitative
methodological approach was appropriate because the researcher sought to understand teachers’
human experience and their social justice-oriented practices in real time.
The quantitative research design the researcher used was survey research by examining
teachers’ perceptions. Lochmiller and Lester (2017) asserts that survey research is intended to
capture participants' perspectives at the moment in time or changes in their perspective across a
period. The quantitative survey included 12 closed-ended questions and three open-ended
questions. The closed-ended questions consisted of pre-determined answer choices to create
uniformity and allowed for comparisons amongst participants. Open-ended questions allowed
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participants to include unique, in-depth responses (Lochmiller & Lester, 2017). The quantitative
survey was administered to first-year preservice and intern teachers. The researcher addressed all
research questions in the qualitative interviews and quantitative surveys.
Instrumentation and Protocols
Qualitative Instrument
The qualitative interview protocol included 12 (see Appendix A) questions divided into
the following sections: positionality, experiences in the teacher preparation program, classroom
instructional practices, and what’s next. The questions were primarily open-ended with probing
follow-up questions to ensure the responses received were clear and answered the interview
questions (Lochmiller & Lester, 2017). A recorder and notes were used to capture all interview
questions' answers accurately.
Quantitative Instrument
A 15-question survey was used to conduct the quantitative portion of data collection.
The survey protocol was divided into positionality, experiences in the teacher preparation
program, and classroom instructional practices (see Appendix B). The survey questions
addressed all research questions. The survey designed for this study was created to provide the
researcher with numeric descriptions of the teacher preparation students' attitudes and/or
opinions in the program (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016).
Data Collection
The data collection methods used for this research study included qualitative, semi-
structured interviews and a quantitative survey. All students in the first-year preservice cohort
were sent an inquiry email alerting them to participate in the survey. Demographic questions
included in the survey asked questions related to their race and ethnicity, gender identity, and
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teaching plans after the program. This information was used to identify a cross-section of
students to invite to participate in the interview. The length of the interview was between 30 to
45 minutes. The interviews took place in 2021.
The semi-structured interviews allowed the researcher to include structured questions to
obtain specific data from participants and allowed for flexibility in the types of questions
provided. Semi-structured interviews also offered the opportunity to have a conversational style
of interviewing and engagement to truly understand those lived experiences inside and outside
the classroom (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). The researcher asked about experience, behavior,
feelings, and knowledge. The researcher probed for clarity when necessary and avoided leading
questions or inserting their thoughts, opinions, and experiences on the matter. Implementation of
these interview practices provided the most opportunity for the researcher to understand their
thoughts and experiences with learning about and implementing social justice-oriented practices.
The researcher's quantitative data collection method in this study was a survey. The
survey was administered to all cohort members through a Google Form. The survey was
administered during the month of November. The survey was open for approximately one
month. In total, three reminder emails were sent to potential respondents. The first reminder was
sent to potential respondents at the end of the first week. The second reminder email was sent 3
days before closing. The final reminder was sent the day before closing.
The researcher used surveys to collect information from participants about their views,
experiences, or perceptions (Lochmiller & Lester, 2017). The researcher used surveys to quantify
the experiences of implementing racial justice practices during the preservice teachers’ first year.
The survey measured teachers’ instructional practices before, during, and after participation in
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the teacher preparation program. The surveys provided insight into teachers’ perceptions of how
these practices affected student learning.
Data Analysis
Qualitative data analysis aims to bring meaning and order to the data collected (Anfara et
al., 2002). The study used a mixed-method approach, integrating the quantitative data from the
surveys and the qualitative data from the interviews. The data elements collected from the
research instruments aligned with the research questions.
The data collected was analyzed using Creswell’s (2014) six-step model. The initial step
in the model first organized the data collected from the interviews. In the next step, the
researcher read through the data to reflect on the information gathered. Third, the data was coded
into categories. Then, a description of the participants’ experiences was established from the
coded data and generated themes. Fifth, the themes were represented via a descriptive narrative
passage. Finally, the researcher interpreted the findings.
Validity and Reliability
Merriam and Tisdell (2016) asserts validity and reliability are concerns that can be
approached through careful attention to a study’s conceptualization and the way the data are
collected, analyzed, and interpreted, and the way the findings are presented. The researcher
ensured these components were addressed in identifying the target population, the survey, and
the methodology.
The target population for this research study was first-year preservice and intern student
teachers in the social justice-oriented teacher preparation program at a liberal arts college for
women. The research study addressed the program’s coursework that prepared preservice
students to implement racial justice practices in the classroom. The survey instrument was
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designed to examine essential components of students’ experiences, including prior experiences
as a contribution to the larger body of knowledge, the exploration of any biases being brought
into the practice, the program’s coursework, and the implementation of racial justice practices in
the classroom. The administration of the qualitative and quantitative instruments included an
analysis of the program’s curriculum, qualitative interviews, and quantitative interviews.
A strategy the researcher used to improve the instrument is triangulation. Triangulation is
collecting information from a diverse range of individuals and settings using various methods.
Triangulation reduces the risk of chance associations and systematic biases due to a specific
method and allows a better assessment of the generality of the explanations that one develops
(Maxwell, 2013). In this research study, the researcher used triangulation to look for sources of
error and bias across the research methods and look for specific ways to deal with this, rather
than relying on selecting methods to do this. The goal was to ensure validity threats were made
implausible by evidence and not methods (Maxwell, 2013).
Summary
The study used a mixed-methods approach–quantitative data from surveys and qualitative
data from interviews and document analysis. The purpose of using multiple data collection
methods was to strengthen the study by offering several perspectives on social justice-oriented
teacher preparation programs. The data collected from preservice and intern student teachers
were analyzed and aligned with the research questions. The data was analyzed using Creswell’s
(2014) six steps model. The findings are presented in Chapter Four, and a discussion of the
findings in Chapter Five.
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Chapter Four: Results
The purpose of this study is to examine factors of a social justice-oriented teacher
preparation program (preprogram, program, and post-program) and its impact on building the
capacity of future teachers to meet the needs of diverse learners and improve their academic
outcomes. The research study contributes to a limited body of research on the quality and
effectiveness of social justice-oriented teacher preparation programs and their impact on
learners’ outcomes. This study stems from the need to support future educators in exploring their
race, class, and privilege, so they are better equipped to deconstruct Whiteness in education
(Sleeter, 2016) and work towards creating safer and more inclusive educational environments.
Social justice and equitable teaching practices have the potential to positively influence students’
academic success (Paris & Alim, 2017). Given that the teacher workforce remains majority
White middle-class women and the student population is becoming increasingly more diverse,
the need for social justice-oriented teacher preparation programs is becoming dire to respond to
the needs of learners.
The study included three research questions. The research questions focused on three
critical areas contributing to the preparation of future teachers for social justice, including
preprogram, program, and postprogram. The research questions were:
1. How do teacher preparation program students’ positionalities impact their
engagement in the program?
2. How do teacher preparation programs implement racial justice practices across the
entire program, including coursework, field placement, and during the first year of
teaching?
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3. What are the racial justice practices of new pre-service teachers who attended the
Mills College social justice-oriented teacher preparation program?
Each research question was answered through the participants' understanding of social
justice, positionality, lived experiences, reflective facts on experiences in the program and the
classroom, and an analysis of the perceptions of relevant coursework on student outcomes.
Research Question 1 examined teachers’ positionalities and how their positionalities
impacted their engagement in the teacher preparation program. Positionality is defined by how
one fits in based on gender, race, class, sexuality, ethnicity, culture, language, and other social
factors (Douglas & Nganga, 2013). The purpose of this question was to gain a better
understanding of who the preservice and intern teachers are, their lived experiences, and what
has had the greatest impact on their understanding of what teaching for social justice entails and
their knowledge, attitudes, and skills related to teaching for social justice. Four qualitative
interview questions and three quantitative survey questions were designed, asked, and analyzed
to inform this research question.
Research Question 2 explored how the Mills College teacher preparation program
implements racial justice practices across the entire program, including coursework, field
placement, and during the first year of teaching. This set of quantitative and qualitative questions
took a deeper dive into preservice and intern teachers’ experiences in the program and how those
experiences developed their capacity to implement racial justice practices. Questions in this
section specifically examined the alignment of the program’s mission, vision, and culture and the
teachers’ positionality; the feeling of preparation to teach in an urban school and district; and
specific components of the teacher preparation program (courses, readings, instructors, field
experiences, or other experiences) that have had the greatest impact on their teaching for social
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justice.
Research Question 3 examined how the knowledge acquired in the teacher preparation
program transferred into practice in the classroom and its impact on learners. This research
question was designed to document actual racial justice practices and the response from students.
The questions aligned to this research question asked participants to provide concrete examples
of their racial justice practices, the responses from students, and their perceptions of student
outcomes. Additionally, this research question explored any racial justice practices preservice
and intern teachers plan to implement next year as they transition to their classrooms.
Chapter Four is organized by the three research questions identified in Chapter One. The
quantitative and qualitative data are presented by descriptor, experiences, and interrelations of
each research question and their alignment to Vygotsky’s Socio-Cultural theoretical framework
(Palincsar & Scott, 2012). The data were analyzed using Creswell’s (2014) six steps model. In
the initial step of the model, the data were organized. The next step included reading through the
data to reflect on and draft themes. The data were coded into categories next, and then a
description of the participants’ experiences was established. Lastly, an interpretation of the
findings was presented via narrative summaries, tables, and graphics. The identified methods
support preservice, and intern teachers’ experiences using social justice and racial justice
practices attained from participation in the teacher preparation program.
The chapter will unveil emerging themes and noteworthy statements that were discovered
through the data analysis process. The established themes are designed to synthesize descriptions
into a meaning that depicts the shared experiences of each preservice and intern teachers. The
chapter concludes with a summary of emerging themes.
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Participants
The criteria to participate in the research study included first-year preservice and intern
teachers enrolled in the Mills College teacher preparation program during the 2020–21 program
year. All participants in this study met the criteria the identified criteria. There were 23
preservice and intern students in the 2021–22 cohort. Preservice aligns with the traditional
format of teacher preparation programs where students spend half of their day in the classroom
of the school in which they are placed. Mills College offers an internship path where student-
teachers with adequate teaching experience and for whom it is deemed developmentally
appropriate to participate in this option. As interns, students work full-time while obtaining their
credentials (Mills College, 2022). Of the 23 students, 19 completed the quantitative survey and
five participated in the qualitative interviews. Demographic questions included in the
quantitative survey asked about their race and ethnicity, gender identity, and teaching plans after
the program. The researcher analyzed the demographic data to invite a cross-section of
preservice and intern teachers to participate in the qualitative interview. Figures 1–3 present the
survey participants' demographics. Table 1 presents the interview participants.
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Table 1
Interview Participants’ Demographics (N = 5)
Teacher pseudonym Teacher type Race
Samantha Teacher intern White
Summer Preservice teacher Mixed Race
Katrina Preservice teacher Mixed Race
Sophia Teacher intern White
Melissa Preservice teacher White
The K–12 learner population in American schools is becoming increasingly diverse,
while the educator workforce remains primarily White (80%) and female (Doug et al., 2008).
The preservice and intern teachers participating in the survey mirrored the demographics of the
current teaching workforce, with the majority of educators being White. Of the 19 survey
participants, seven identified as White (37%), five identified as mixed race (26%), four identified
as other (21%), and three identified as Black or African American (16%). Participants identified
as mixed race or other included Mexican, White, Latinx, Asian Pacific Islander, and Japanese
(Figure 1).
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Figure 1
Participants Race
The majority of the survey participants were male (47%), followed by female (26%),
transgender female (11%), transgender female (11%), and gender variant/nonconforming (5%;
Figure 2). More than 70% of the survey participants have earned a bachelor’s degree or other 4-
year degrees, while 16% have earned a master’s degree, and 11% have earned a doctorate (PhD,
EdD, JD or PsyD; Figure 3). Close to 100% of the survey participants resided in a Bay Area
City. More than 50% resided in Oakland, CA, where Mills College is located. Additionally,
preservice and intern teachers were placed at Oakland Unified School District schools for their
first year of service.
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Figure 2
Participants Gender
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Figure 3
Highest Degree Earned
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Results for Research Question 1
Research Question 1 asked the following: How do teacher preparation program students’
positionalities impact their engagement in the program? Social justice is about distributing
resources fairly and treating all students equitably to feel safe and secure—physically and
psychologically (National Education Association, 2019). Data for this research question resulted
in the following four themes to be discussed: (a) participants aligned with the following social
justice definition: teaching for social justice is defined as a commitment to challenging social,
cultural, and economic inequalities imposed on individuals arising from any differential
distribution of power, resources, and privilege; (b) lived experiences have had an impact on
teaching for social justice; (c) positionality does shape one’s commitment to teaching for social
justice; and (d) critical reflection as a tool to connect positionality to commitment to social
justice.
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Figure 4
Level Of Agreement With Teaching for Social Justice Definition
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Theme 1: Participants Aligned With a Social Justice Definition That is Committed to
Challenging Social, Cultural, and Economic Inequalities
The first section of questions in the survey and interview asked participants to examine
the definition of social justice and their positionality related to their teaching. The survey
presented pre-determined answer choices, while the interviews took a deeper dive. Interview
participants provided greater insight into their definition of social justice and described their
positionality related to participation in the program and their “why” for teaching social justice.
Survey participants were asked their level of agreement with three distinctive definitions of
teaching for social justice. The pre-determined definitions included: (a) teaching for social
justice is defined as having beliefs with an emphasis on ethical values, care, and respect; (b)
teaching for social justice is defined as a commitment to challenging social, cultural, and
economic inequalities imposed on individuals arising from any differential distribution of power,
resources, and privilege; and (c) teaching for social justice is defined as recognizing and acting
upon the power that we have for making positive change. All the survey participants either
strongly agreed (79%) or agreed (21%) teaching for social justice is defined as a commitment to
challenging social, cultural, and economic inequalities imposed on individuals arising from any
differential distribution of power, resources, and privilege (Figure 4). Although none of the
survey participants strongly disagreed with any of the definitions provided, one participant
disagreed with the first definition, and two participants disagreed with the third definition.
Interview participants’ definition of teaching for social justice aligned to challenging existing
social and cultural inequalities in the classroom and creating a safe space where students’
identities and lived experiences are incorporated into the curriculum, being empathetic to what
they are up against in the world, and telling the truth about hard history in America. Their actions
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in the classroom demonstrate their teaching for social justice definition.
Samantha is a facilitator of learning. Her philosophy is to create a safe space for students
to teach one another and her through their lived experiences. Samantha stated:
Being a facilitator of learning where I create a safe space for my students, and I guide it.
The students have more to teach each other and me than I do about social justice. I set up
a framework and provide the historical context, like the history of white supremacy in
this country and how it operates and operated. I give the students space to share their
perspectives and their experiences and make sure it's a good conversation. I think of them
as teaching as much as I like to.
Summer is still working on her definition. For her, defining teaching for social justice is hard,
and she has not seen a description that is fulfilling. Although defining education for social justice
is hard for Summer, she is still committed to incorporating it in her classroom. Summer
responded with the following definition:
It's really hard. I don't think that any definition I would have or read, I would say will be
100% fulfilling. I would say incorporating the identities and circumstances, like structural
oppressions of different groups into every interaction with students and the choices I
make with the curriculum and how I deliver it. Keeping in mind that I am still learning
about structures. Understanding what challenges students are fighting against and how I
can keep that in mind, and combat those to the end and alleviate those things to the best
of my ability.
Honesty is the best policy for Katrina regarding teaching for social justice. When it comes to
teaching history, truth-telling is challenging societal norms and inequalities by giving a voice to
those who would not otherwise have one. Katrina said, “teaching for social justice is being
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honest, not trying to hide or change history, having representation in the classroom, whether it's
with books, and showing pictures of the students and their family.”
Teaching for social justice is community-oriented for Sophia. Sophia, an abolitionist,
solicits the community to help students develop critical skills outside of the classroom and in the
community.
The collective effort between educators and people within the community, that are
interacting with the youth as a way to build skillsets around critical concepts and
frameworks for students. Also, providing that platform for opportunities and self-directed
learning to bridge those critical skills outside of the classroom into their own lives into
the community. Specifically, looking at education and my role as an educator as that of
an abolitionist in an oppressive systematic education system and seeing how through
curriculum student interaction, you know my work with the school and the staff and
extracurricular stuff and not you know all the different odds and ends of within the
teaching work, you know, to really in every effort try to abolish these oppressive systems.
Melissa believes teaching for social justice is equity-centered, acknowledges and honors
students' cultural backgrounds, and prioritizes learning about their heritage:
Teaching for social justice is teaching in such a way that you want to promote equity
amongst your students, so that could mean that they are from various different cultural
backgrounds, but you honor their heritage and make their learning your priority.
While all interview participants strongly agreed or agreed with the definition mentioned
above, 11% of survey participants disagreed that teaching for social justice is defined as
recognizing and acting upon the power that we have for making positive change. This indicates
that the survey participants have not recognized the power in which they hold could be used for
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good and the enactment of change.
Theme 2: Lived Experiences Have Had an Impact on Teaching for Social Justice
An educator’s positionality is salient and guides their teaching for social justice. As part
of a series of questions related to research question one, the next survey question examined the
impact of participants’ lived experiences before the Mills College teacher preparation program
on their knowledge, attitudes, and skills related to teaching for social justice. More than half
(53%) of the survey participants said their experiences before coming to the program had
somewhat of an impact on their knowledge, attitudes, and skills related to teaching for social
justice, followed by 42% indicating their prior experiences had the greatest impact (Figure 5).
Figure 5
Impact of Lived Experiences on Teaching for Social Justice
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Interview participants shared how their lived experiences, including being a criminal
defense attorney for indigent clients, growing up in a single parent, low-income household,
teaching English abroad, and experiencing extreme privilege and oppression, have impacted their
teaching for social justice. Samantha was a criminal defense attorney before becoming a teacher.
Her previous profession has had the greatest impact on teaching social justice. She understands
the experiences of some of her students in urban communities, such as oppression based on race
and the punitive nature of the criminal justice system. Samantha stated:
I was a defense attorney for a long time prior to this program and teaching. I went into
that job on purpose–that's why I went to law school. I grew up as an anti-racist, anti-
fascist, very left individual. I was a criminal defense attorney in Oakland, CA, for a wide
variety of clients, including maybe a third of my practice were indigent clients. Clients
from all backgrounds in state and federal courts. The federal system is way more punitive
than the California system is. I know what it is like to be discriminated against based on
how you look and how you live your life. I know what it is like to wake up and read the
paper and see how the feds, the President, the state government, and private citizens
coming after you every single day. Oppression based on race. I love people, and that's
why I was a good lawyer. I'm really good at connecting with people from all different
backgrounds. These same characteristics are really important for a high school teacher
who is social justice-oriented instead of being authoritarian. I don't run my space in an
authoritarian way. It is all relationship-based. You have to be good at forming
relationships with teenagers.
Of the 6,002,253 students enrolled in California’s schools, 60.3% are socioeconomically
disadvantaged, meaning they are eligible for free or reduced-price meals; or have
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parents/guardians who did not receive a high school diploma (California School Dashboard,
2021). As a K–12 student, Katrina was a part of this statistic as she is still low-income and
received free lunch in school. Katrina’s socioeconomic status has had the greatest impact on her
teaching for social justice, stating:
A big thing for me is I have been raised by a single mom and we were low-income; we
still are, but we will not be in the future. I have only attended public schools and received
free lunches. Mills is the first private school I have gone to, plus it's all female and
transgender now. Historically, it's a women's college. I was in band, and when we would
go to other schools, I would see how much privilege they had in their instruments. My
school had instruments that have dents in them. They had next level instruments. Since
preschool, I have wanted to be a teacher. I have always wanted to have an impact on
children and wanting to give them a future. I want to give students as many resources as
possible. That's my goal. These are my dreams.
The intersections of privilege and oppression as a White student have had the greatest
impact on Sophia and teaching for social justice. Sophia shared the following:
I have been in these weird intersections of extreme privilege and then different levels of
oppression myself with how as a queer kind of non-binary student throughout my youth, I
was always a target and then, also as a White student having a lot of this kind of privilege
in these other settings and seeing firsthand, wow this is really just because I’m either
getting away with this or other people are getting away with things because they're
White.
Melissa had the opportunity to teach students in France how to speak English. In this
experience, she realized that even in France, students are not treated fairly. Melissa shared, “I
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think one of the big background experiences that affected me in this regard was teaching English
and France the attitudes of the teachers in like sort of inner-city neighborhoods in France.”
One survey participant argued their prior experiences did not impact their teaching for
social justice. Although one interview participant did not have any direct experiences impacting
their teaching for social justice, they would like to change that narrative and incorporate social
justice in their classroom. Summer was honest about not having many opportunities within social
justice in her educational experiences since social justice was not a factor. However, this is a
narrative Summer is changing in her classrooms:
Within my educational experiences and classes I have taken, social justice was not a
factor, so I don't think I've had any formal gaining of knowledge or spaces to think about
teaching for social justice or social justice at all. It is unfortunate, and it's one thing I want
to do different in my classroom for sure.
The lived experiences of educators do have an impact on their teaching for social justice.
The lived experiences of educators provide an opportunity to understand some of the lived
experiences of their students. As one interview participant shared, she grew up in a low-income
household. According to the California Department of Education, more than 60% of K–12
students come from socioeconomically disadvantaged households. This participant can better
relate to some of the students she teaches in an urban school district.
Theme 3: Positionality Does Shape One’s Commitment to Teaching for Social Justice
The definition of positionality includes how one identifies within the context of gender,
race, class, sexuality, ethnicity, culture, language, and other social factors (Douglas & Nganga,
2013). In the case of the survey participants, who they know themselves to be, their positionality
does shape their commitment to teaching for social justice. Ninety-five percent of the survey
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participants answered yes to the following question, “Does who you are (your positionality)
shape your commitment to teaching for social justice?” In comparison, only one participant (5%)
said they were unsure (Figure 6).
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Figure 6
Positionality and Commitment to Teaching for Social Justice
In response to this same question, “Does who you are (your positionality) shape your
commitment to teaching for social justice?” in the qualitative interview, some participants named
their race and how, because of their race, there is a belief that a person of color is more suited to
teach diverse learners than a White person. However, regardless of their belief, they are still
committed to teaching for social justice.
Summer expressed that she does not always feel as if she is the fittest to teach in schools
with mostly Black and brown students because she presents as a White, mixed-race woman.
Summer shared:
I am a White presenting mixed race person and grew up in white spaces. When teaching
in majority Black and brown schools, I don't think I am the most fit to serve them. This is
something I reflect about a lot. I am personally motivated by supporting students and
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changing the communities and the school, in terms of queer students and femme
identifying students because I have experience with that personally.
Katrina shared a similar sentiment as Summer when it came to believing that they were
taking up space from other students of color because of their race. Katrina stated:
I am a White woman. However, there was a time when I didn't want to teach because I
thought I was taking someone else's job who is a person of color. Then, I thought I should
stay because at least I am aware, and I can provide guest speakers to spotlight other
people's voices. I have an entire identify crisis because I don't speak Spanish and I'm
Mexican. My dad didn't teach me, so it's really hard for me to fall into more of the
Whiteside.
In both the surveys and interviews, participants agreed that their positionality does shape
their commitment to teaching for social justice. Race was the number one factor named by
interview participants. While all interview participants are committed to teaching for social
justice, two feel that because they are White and mixed-race presenting as White, they are taking
up space from people of color who may be able to relate more to diverse learners. This ideology
presents an opportunity for preservice and intern teachers to do deeper, reflective work on racial
identity.
Theme 4: Critical Reflection as a Tool to Connect Positionality to Commitment to Social
Justice
Critical reflection is a conceptual tool used in education to guide preservice teachers’
decisions about teaching and learning (Grossman et al.,1999). Survey participants were not asked
about critical reflection. The majority of the participants in the interview looked inward, starting
with self and their lived experiences when explaining what critical reflection is to them and how
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they use it in their classrooms. Sophia addresses their own bias and viewpoint when engaging in
critical reflection. Additionally, Sophia has done personal development work to dismantle some
of the inherent beliefs she now holds because of her experiences. Sophia shared the following
statement:
Self-reflection; the critical reflection part of looking at what are my own bias or what is
my own kind of viewpoint. You know there's been a lot of work around dismantling my
own perceptions and filters, and I think it's partly critical reflection of how I’m looking at
this system playing out and these different patterns.
Melissa uses critical reflection to examine how her past experiences have shaped her identity
present day. Melissa shared:
I think critical reflection is important to think about the ways in which you think, and
your identity affects the way you reflect. I think reflection is all about tying it back to
your experiences and tying it back to who you are as a person, and maybe looking and
seeing how your history affects the way you view things now.
Summer is doing a lot of self-reflection right now. In her reflections, she considers how her
experiences inform her interactions with students. Summer stated:
I am doing a lot of reflection on my own experiences and the interactions I have with
each student, and how what I bring informs each of those interactions, and how different
systems of oppression inform our experiences and the way that I experienced that
situation.
For the remaining two participants, critical reflection is an opportunity to further explore
the context of a particular topic. These two participants emphasized a meta-analysis approach
and using different lenses to ask questions is how they utilize critical reflection.
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Critical reflection for Samantha is a two-step approach. For Samantha, critical reflection
is a meta-analysis to reflect on your initial reflection. Samantha shared, “reflecting on things in a
way where you are not taking the first level; you want to go into a meta, meta-analysis, or a meta
reflection and try to reflect on your initial reflection.”
Summer approaches critical reflection by looking through multiple lenses to understand the
context of a particular topic. Samantha shared the following statement:
I try to understand the context of how you might be reflecting on something. I think of
questioning, like any inquiries, I think I'm looking through it critically, so I am not just
taking it and accepting it. Whatever the information, you are thinking deeper, trying to
look through a different lens or multiple lenses.
Critical reflection is a salient tool that educators use to inform teaching and learning.
Critical reflection is a tool introduced in the Mills College teacher preparation program during
the first semester. Preservice and intern teachers have continued to use the tool to reflect
interpersonally or in specific contexts. It is important for preservice and intern teachers to
continuously use this tool to support them as they exit their first year of teaching and enter their
second year and are the lead teacher.
Summary of Findings for Research Question 1
Research Question 1 asked a series of questions to understand the preservice and intern
teachers and how their positionality and lived experiences affect their teaching approach to social
justice. Teaching for social justice meant something different to all who participated in the
survey and/or interview. Of all the definitions provided, all participants strongly agreed or agreed
that teaching for social justice is defined as “a commitment to challenging social, cultural, and
economic inequalities imposed on individuals arising from any differential distribution of power,
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resources, and privilege.” Their classroom strategies aligned with this definition. However, there
was no mention of a definition provided by their teacher preparation program so that everyone
has the same starting point. Preservice and intern teachers need to continue to critically reflect on
their positionality and name their intersections and lived experiences as they provide insight into
the lived experiences of the learners in their classroom. Although all preservice and intern
teachers named race a contributing factor to their commitment to teaching for social justice, two
of the future educators believe that because of their race, they are taking up space from educators
of color who may be able to relate more to diverse learners. It will be important for all preservice
and intern teachers to be grounded in their racial identity to fully teach for social justice.
Results for Research Question 2
Research Question 2 asked the following: How do teacher preparation programs
implement racial justice practices across the entire program, including coursework, field
placement and during the first year of teaching? This question sought to understand how the
Mills College teacher preparation program implemented and modeled racial justice practices
students could implement during this first year of student teaching. The questions in this section
of the survey and the interview asked participants to examine the Mills College teacher
preparation program and the program’s ability to prepare future educators to work in urban
schools and districts. Four themes emerged from the data, and each will be discussed below: (a)
Mills College teacher preparation program’s mission, culture and objectives align to students’
positionality, and students’ are satisfied with the program; (b) Mills College teacher preparation
program’s courses and curriculum have prepared students to teach in urban schools and districts;
and (c) courses, professors, cohort members and field experiences have had the greatest impact
on teaching for social justice.
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Theme 5: Mills College Teacher Preparation Program’s Mission, Culture, and Objectives
Align to Students’ Positionality, and Students’ Are Satisfied With the Program
The Mills College teacher preparation program emphasizes infusing joy, justice, and
liberation into K–12 education. Students examined the program's mission, culture, and objectives
concerning their positionality to better understand how the Mills College program prepares
students to teach in urban schools and districts. All of the survey participants (95%), except one
(5%), said Mills College program’s mission, culture, and objectives align with their positionality
(Figure 7).
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Figure 7
Alignment of Mills College Program’s Mission, Culture and Objectives to Students Positionality
The one participant who did not say yes, answered not sure to this question. Although
most survey participants said some components of the teacher preparation program’s mission,
culture and objectives align with their positionality; the interview participants never articulated
the Mills College mission statement and objectives. The interview participants did mention
components of the program’s culture. How the program aligns with students’ positionality
includes an anti-racist curriculum, being open to exchanging knowledge from students'
perspectives and their understanding of the current climate related to certain topics, and
abolishing an oppressive educational system and instructional practices.
Samantha briefly touched on Mills College’s anti-racist curriculum when sharing how their
mission, culture, and objections align with her positionality. Additionally, Samantha shared
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administrators are open to learning from students on topics they are not well-versed in. Samantha
stated:
They [Mills College] do a great job of teaching a very strong, standard anti-racist
curriculum. They are very open to being educated on the pieces they don't quite have. I
appreciate that, and I am in alignment with that. I have gone to professors and
administrators and let them know the way they are talking about trans people and gender
they need to adjust, and they were receptive to it.
The program's title, The Educators for Liberation, Justice and Joy Program at Mills College
aligns with the mission of Summer. However, Summer never mentioned the Mills College
teacher preparation program’s mission. Summer stated:
One of the strongest things about the program is the community-like educators and
students. I feel very aligned with. In the title, educators for liberation, justice and joy.
That really resonates with me and my mission in life and career. All of the teachers and
professors bring that mindset to everything that they deliver to us. It is a part of every
discussion and every reflection piece that we are talking about. We talk about how the
functionality or identities of different students will be affected by this thing or that we are
doing. That's always the lens of everything we do and all of the discussions we have as a
cohort. We are all definitely aligned, but if, for some reason, we are not, the professor
goes back there.
The emphasis on the abolition of oppressive systems, the joy of students, and the equality and
equity of students are also how Sophia is strongly aligned to the mission, culture, and objectives
of the Mills College teacher preparation program. Sophia shared:
I would say they align very strongly. The program emphasized abolition of oppressive
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systems and the joy of students and equality and equity of students. I realized there's no
other program that I feel like I could have access to that would really emphasize the truth.
Not just, okay, we're supporting each other or making sure that we don't do anything
offensive, but it's more than that. It's that deeper piece of like, how can we really change
these systems or how can we create a different education system.
The Mills College's commitment to social justice and working towards being an educator for joy
aligns with Melissa’s positionality. Melissa said, they [Mills College] are very committed to this
idea of social justice and very committed to this intent on making education something about joy.
I really want to be, you know, an educator for joy.”
In summary, the vast majority of the survey participants’ positionality aligns with the
teacher preparation program's mission, culture, and objectives. However, none of the interview
participants were able to articulate or describe the mission and objectives of the program. The
expectation will never be for the students to articulate the mission and objectives; however, to
fully understand how their positionality aligns, more context was needed.
The Mills College teacher education program prepares professionals to be reflective,
collaborative, and visionary teacher-leaders committed to improving K–12 education, focusing
on urban and public schools (Mills College, 2022). As shown in Figure 8, generally speaking,
most survey participants are either very satisfied (37%) or satisfied (47%) with the Mills College
teacher preparation program overall (Figure 8). The remaining survey participants are neither
satisfied nor dissatisfied (11%) with the program. One student is dissatisfied with the program.
The increased level of satisfaction is likely a result of the majority of students’ positionality
aligning to the Mills College teacher preparation program’s mission, culture, and objectives.
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Figure 8
Level of Satisfaction with Mills College Teacher Preparation Program
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Theme 6: Mills College Teacher Preparation Program’s Courses and Curriculum Have
Prepared Students to Teach in Urban Schools and Districts
Most intern and preservice teachers discussed the program’s courses and curriculum as
mechanisms that have prepared them to teach in urban districts and schools. Without mentioning
specific courses, assigned readings, and lessons, the interview participants addressed how the
overall courses and curriculums prepare them to work in urban districts and schools.
Samantha’s preparation to teach in urban schools and districts came from the context-specific
lessons transferrable to the classroom. Samantha shared:
It's giving me the stuff that I really use and that I really needed. For example, this is a
lesson, and I can take in the classroom, and in some ways, it was very context specific for
urban schools and in some ways, it could really be any classroom.
In addition to courses and curriculum, community orientation is how Sophia feels prepared to
teach in urban schools and districts. Sophia shared the following:
Not only is the curriculum they put forth really helpful, but they also push you to actually
have experiences, and in order to really move through the program, you have to be a part
of the community. The expectations Mills College have for you aren't just like oh, read
this thing and write this essay, you actually have to go and interact with your community
to be able to work through the program and complete certain assignments.
Melissa shared a specific podcast that students in the program had to listen to that contributed to
her teaching preparation in urban schools and districts. Melissa shared:
We did a lot of different readings, podcasts, and types of texts that addressed the
differences between those schools. There was this podcast called, Nice White Parents
about an IB school in Brooklyn, NY. There are all these interesting dichotomies that exist
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when you have people who are promoting, oh you should really learn a second language
and travel and these White people talking to people of color primarily who are Puerto
Rican or are from another country and another language surely.
Courses, curriculum, assigned readings, assignments, professors, guest speakers,
community engagement, and more contribute to the preparation of intern and preservice teachers
to teach in urban schools and districts. As indicated by the interview participants, the program’s
courses and curriculum have prepared them the most. Knowing the names of the courses and
curriculum content will provide more insight into how the two are preparing future educators to
better understand how the courses and curriculum have prepared students.
Theme 7: Courses, Professors, Cohort Members and Field Experiences Have had the
Greatest Impact on Teaching for Social Justice
When intern and preservice teachers thought about which components of the teacher
preparation program had the greatest impact on their teaching for social justice, the courses,
professors, cohort members, and field experiences were ranked the highest amongst survey and
interview participants (Figure 9).
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Figure 9
Ranked Components of the Teacher Preparation Program From Greatest Impact (8) to Least
Impact (1; Top Three Ranks)
In courses, professors focus on actual transferable classroom experiences, and student
teachers can receive feedback on their practices. Creating a safe space and being in a community
with cohort members were mentioned more than once among interview participants.
Additionally, classroom materials that were studied also had an impact.
Samantha named a specific professor that focuses on actual classroom experiences. Preservice
and intern teachers can implement these classroom experiences and increase productivity by
completing their coursework while implementing actual classroom practices to receive feedback.
Samantha stated:
I think all the classes were useful, and they are starting to catalog. The ones that really
jump out are Liana Kwan because she's very focused on actual classroom experience. The
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assignments allowed me to double up my work stuff with my grad school stuff because
being an intern, there's a lot of responsibility and being a mom. Whenever I could do
assignments that I could use in my classroom, that was really valuable to me because I'm
getting feedback and I am able to take a grad school product and reuse it. Dr. Galguera
was amazing in terms of getting me to think about teaching people who are acquiring the
English language and making sure I had the right perspective on language in general.
The placement has had the greatest impact on Summer on teaching for social justice.
Placement in an urban setting provided preservice and intern teachers with real-life experiences
and an opportunity to get to know the students. Additionally, Summer believed being in a
community with and learning from her cohort members has greatly impacted her. Summer
stated:
Number one is the placement. I am with the students, the teachers, and interacting with
the administrators. I am in-person, actually seeing it happen, trying things out, hearing
about it, and getting to know the students. The professors bring us together with intention
in the ways they want to prepare us. They are real about what we are doing. That is
something huge in terms of preparation, and I really, really, really appreciate it. From
most, if not all our professors, is that they are real about what it’s going to look like. It
really feels like a community where we are all bringing knowledge, and I really
appreciate the program for that. I really encourage intern teachers so teachers that have
already been teaching or who are about to be in their first year of teaching, the program is
built for those who work full-time while being in the program. I think that changes the
culture and community. You don't have to be a student teacher and not get paid to be in
the program.
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While Katrina did not mention any specific courses she had taken in the program, the fact that
the courses built upon one another greatly impacted teaching for social justice. Additionally,
Katrina mentioned a specific text and its focus as another component that had an impact:
All of the social justice classes at Mills College connect and build off each other. I was in
a women's studies class, and I learned so much about social justice and race in general.
One book I have in mind is called The Whole Brainchild. I don't remember if his name is
Daniel, maybe Jeff, I don't know. The book focused a lot on representation and
understanding the child, their background, their family, and their culture.
The teacher preparation classrooms had a great impact on Sophia’s preparation. While Sophia
did not mention a specific class, as Katrina did not either, the small class sizes and engagement
levels within the classroom were dynamic and noteworthy. Sophia shared:
I would say the classroom itself is a very important thing that always has been very
influential for me. With small class sizes, the professors are amazing and they just have
an amazing way of really connecting people and creating these intimate spaces, where we
can really get down to the nitty gritty of certain topics and have people push themselves
to be vulnerable in these spaces, so I think that, in having the way that the professors are
able to create that classroom dynamic is very important, and I really appreciate it. Also,
the curriculum they have given us access to, like you know insane amount of curriculum
and there are some things that um you know it's more they're just giving us access to it
and we're able to kind of briefly touch upon it and class, but they really just want to
provide us with all of these different resources and things that are really going through
the works of, you know, specifically Zaretta Hammond, Bell Hooks and Paulo Freire; all
these different kind of pedagogies and curriculum plans that are important and helpful.
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Melissa started hearing and learning from others, whether it’s the guest speakers or cohort
members, have had the greatest impact on her teaching for social justice:
A lot of the guest speakers that we've had have impacted me pretty strongly. The people
in my cohort are just so amazing and constantly bringing up good inquiries, like thinking
about undocumented students, you know. Are you thinking about different students who
have different kinds of learning styles? I feel like they keep me in check really often and
keep me on my toes for sure.
As preservice and intern teachers are in their first year of student teaching, the program
needs to provide classroom instructional strategies and content that can be implemented and
receive feedback from their lead teacher and the program. As mentioned in the survey and
interviews, the courses and curriculum have had the greatest impact on the classroom's
preparation and safe space and community. These experiences will lead to the continuous
development of preservice and intern teachers.
Summary of Findings for Research Question 2
Research Question 2 addressed specific topics related to how the teacher preparation
program is preparing students to be teachers for social justice. Preservice and intern teachers’
positionality aligned to the mission, culture, and objectives of the Mills College teacher
preparation program, which likely led to higher satisfaction in the program. When asked
specifically about the program and its impact on preparing them to be teachers for social justice,
preservice and intern teachers mentioned the coursework and being in the community with their
cohort members as the driving forces. While interview participants mentioned courses as having
a great impact, no one mentioned specific courses. The mentioning of specific courses would
have provided more insight into how the program is preparing students to teach for social justice.
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Results for Research Question 3
Research Question 3 examined the following: What are the racial justice practices of new
preservice teachers who attended the Mills College social justice-oriented teacher preparation
program? Owuor and Sleeter (2011) posits determining the effectiveness of teacher preparation
programs and teaching for social justice. There is a need to examine teachers in their first years
of teaching. Preservice and intern teachers in the Mills College teacher preparation program have
one school year to acquire the skills and knowledge necessary before they teach students in
urban schools and districts on their own. Existing research examines practicing K–12 teachers’
efforts to teach critical social justice in their classrooms. However, there is little connection
between teacher education programs and/or the impact of teacher practice in the classroom and
student outcomes (Aronson, 2020). To help bridge this connection, questions in this section
addressed how preservice and intern teachers have evolved up until this point, the racial justice
practices they have implemented in the classroom, and their learners’ response to these practices.
Five themes emerged from this research question that includes: (a) teacher preparation program
students have evolved during their first year; (b) racial justice practices centered the lived
experiences of students; (c) racial justice practices have had somewhat of an impact; (d)
Relationship-building was the main student outcome; and (e) plans for next year ranged from
removing grading structures to centering a student’s home language.
Theme 8: Teacher Preparation Program Students Have Evolved During Their First Year
When asked if they felt their knowledge about teaching diverse students in urban schools
evolved during the first year, most survey participants (79%) said there was growth. Three
participants (16%) mentioned they had evolved somewhat, while one participant was not sure
(5%; Figure 10).
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Figure 10
Evolving During the First Year of Student Teaching
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Interview participants delved deeper and provided examples of how they have evolved
during the first year. Examples of how they have evolved included being able to help students
understand their prejudices, understanding different perspectives and practices in the classroom,
and how to be a leader in diverse communities.
Samantha expressed how her ability to help students realize their context is what has truly
evolved for her in this past year. Samantha shared:
What's really evolved for me is how student's sometimes need help realizing their own
context. They need the opportunity to think through with other classmates; their own
prejudices about their own communities of color that they live around.
Summer has leaned in on understanding students’ ability in the classroom and understanding
different students’ perspectives in the program as two areas that have evolved for her in this first
year. Summer shared:
I have learned, in terms of diverse students, I would say the two biggest areas are students
with diverse levels of ability in the classroom whether that's a classified or peered
diagnosis, or not just a range of abilities and diversity in terms of race and ethnicity. How
it has changed, I would say, I came in pretty open-minded and also, knowing that I have a
science background, but there's a lot I didn't know, and there's still so much that I don't
know. I will say that I've learned a lot of different perspectives and strategies from
different educators and researchers, and from the different students in the program. I
think that I've gotten clarity on different systemic issues within the education system that
has stuck with me. For example, the original purpose of education was something we
studied at the beginning of the program last summer. Education has been used as a tool to
conform to the upper middle-class agenda and ideology. Education was used as a tool to
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assimilate or it was used to deny Black and brown students, especially Black students that
don't have access to education, so they are not part of a society. I was aware of the prison
pipeline, but the details and how the history is so ingrained in the system changes the way
I look at education.
Sophia’s knowledge of how to engage families in students' experiences in the classroom evolved
for her during this first year. Sophia shared:
It has evolved and changed. I feel like it's definitely given me a lot of different insight on
what it's like to be a leader in these communities and how I can better reach and interact
with different students and families. The real tangible experience is I have a student that I
need to talk with their parents and going and talking with their parents and having that
interaction with their family and their community. I mean there's similar experiences, but
in this different generational tone, I would say, that's also kind of an evolved piece of like
there's these different concepts that I might have already been familiar with, but over the
past, you know however many years how have things you know, continue to grow, or
change or whatever.
Katrina stated that there was no opportunity to learn about different religions in the teacher
preparation program until this point. By understanding the various religions, Katrina could better
tailor the classroom activities. Katrina shared:
I think one that I don't think of a lot is religion. There are so many different religions I
feel like I didn't learn about at Mills. Having different religions in a classroom, for
example, one student in this class is Jehovah witness, and we can't really do any big
celebrations like Christmas projects.
Except for one, preservice and intern teachers mentioned their knowledge has evolved in
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the past year. How their knowledge has evolved was demonstrated through classroom
instructional practices and the engagement of various stakeholders. By teachers’ knowledge
evolving, the program is meeting a salient purpose in preparing future educators.
Theme 9: Racial Justice Practices Centered on the Lived Experiences of Students
An examination of current literature documents the following racial justice practices:
critical reflection as a strategy to think deeply about self as a racial, gendered, and cultural
individual; cultural and racial awareness; cross-cultural experiences before and during teacher
preparation; program course content and field experiences that challenged previous thinking;
digital storytelling to deconstruct Whiteness; enlisting contributions from all students, including
marginalized students, in the class and connections between students; implementing an
actionable and measurable curriculum to track improvement; constant discourse and comfort
with dissent; creating a safe and supported space for students; and managing the interests of the
community and stakeholders within the community (Grosland & Matias, 2016; Mills College,
2020; Milner, 2006; Whipp, 2013). Racial justice practices implemented by preservice and intern
teachers, through their unique experiences, during this first year, varied depending on the level of
autonomy at their disposal in their respective classrooms, the age and grade level of the students,
and responsiveness to the current experiences of students, and more. Not every preservice and
intern teacher was given autonomy to implement racial justice practices or even curriculum in
the classroom. As they stated, their role was to assist the mentor teacher and observe their
practices. Other preservice and intern teachers were given complete autonomy to implement
racial justice practices.
In some cases, the preservice and intern teacher was the head teacher because there was
no one due to California's current exacerbated teacher shortage. Significant themes derived from
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the survey and interview participants racial justice practices, including (a) centering the students’
experiences; (b) culturally responsive pedagogy; (c) student agency; (d) racial justice literature;
(e) grading practices; (f) social and emotional learning; (g) acknowledging biases; (h) restorative
justice circles and conflict resolution; (i) discussing the historical context of race; (j) and creating
a safe space. The themes are provided below with excerpts from the students’ experiences.
Centering the Students’ Experiences
The theme, centering students’ experiences, included various classroom level activities
and programmatic shifts. The instructional practice shared amongst most of the interview
participants included allowing the students to teach and learn from one another. Tracy stated, “a
person of the day and family share unit where students share about themselves and their families
with the class and think about how they all have similarities and differences within their
identities and lived experiences.” Another participant, Stacey, “I have centered my students of
color in my curriculum planning and development, in general, but also, particularly when the
content is connected to people of color's lived experiences. I elicit teaching from the students for
the sake of each other rather than distribute content.” Lastly, Jessica shared, “I actually try to
center student experience and knowledge in curriculum and lessons.”
Culturally Responsive Pedagogy
Culturally responsive pedagogy in the classroom was inclusive of honoring diverse
learners and included their experiences in instruction. Johnathan shared, “I have adapted partial
multilingual practices to allow for academic content to be more accessible to Spanish speaking
students.” Stacey and Vanessa have both integrated a similar practice to be more inclusive of
English learners. Stacey stated, “I have called in communal cultural wealth from my students,
their families, and the school community. I have implemented strategies for English learners to
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participate in high level thinking.” Vanessa shared, “Being more aware and better prepared to
serve my language-expansive students.” The remaining participants focused on racial and
cultural practices. Samantha stated, “I am teaching a curriculum oriented towards my students,
which includes work by and focused on BIPOC individuals, particularly BIPOC women. My
curriculum centers the racial justice interests of my students of color.” Melissa shared, “I have
tried to include a wide variety of cultures within my lessons and speak to the home cultures and
languages of my students. One way that I did that was we did a cultural background project.”
Lastly, Sophia said, “Bringing in various representation and curriculum that shows multiple
perspectives/ centers marginalized voices.”
Student Agency
The student agency theme focused on centering the voices of students in decision-
making. Tracy said she focuses on student consent. Eduardo, on the other hand, shared, he asks
students how they want their writing to be edited by ‘traditional’ ENG grammar rules or AAVE
or another style. Providing multiple ways to demonstrate work: written, video, audio, art, etc.
Racial Justice Books
Participants were inclined to have an in-class library with racial justice books. Sarah
shared she has read aloud books, while Constance had racial justice books in the classroom.
Katrina said her classroom was intentional about having books with girls on it. The teacher has a
lot of books that organized by different topics, such as Diwali, amazing women, ordinary people
change the world, and women in math and science.
Grading Practices
Grading for equity was another theme amongst participants. Samantha stated, “I don't
give Ds or Fs. I don't grade harshly.” Jessica shared, “we also use a grading for equity scale
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across campus.”
Acknowledging Biases and Restorative Justice Circles/Conflict Resolution
Bias could create conflict in the classroom. In response, it is essential that classrooms
implement conflict resolution strategies in the classroom. In Sophia’s classroom, she said, “we
acknowledge and dismantle biases and prejudiced behavior. Emily shared, “in my classroom, we
speak explicitly about biases.” Participants shared a variety of conflict resolution strategies.
Christina said, right now, we are working on being respectful and kind to others. Johnathon
shared, “for conflict resolution, we have implemented restorative circles.” Lastly, David said,
restorative justice circles is a strategy used in my classroom.
Discussing the Historical Context of Race
Understanding the historical context of race is essential to overcome inequitable barriers.
Sophia understands this concept. In her classroom, Sophia shared, I discuss racialized systems of
oppression and the concept of race openly and directly (no sugar coating).” Additionally, Emily
says, I present material that is socially/historically relevant to the students in my class and
discuss why it may or may not be included in the textbook/mainstream curriculum.
Creating a Safe Space
Inclusive educational spaces must be safe not only for the students but also for the
teachers and other staffs. To create a safe space, Emily said she establishes classroom cultural
norms. Sophia has implemented a similar practice. Sophia shared she establishes and enforces
equitable humanitarian standards of respect, empathy, acceptance in the classroom.
Preservice and intern teachers provided a variety of racial justice practices they have
implemented over the last year. The overarching theme of the practices centered on the lived
experiences of students. When students' lived experiences are centered, the impact and outcomes
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can be greater because the students' individual needs are taken into consideration. It is important
to note that while preservice and intern teachers could name the racial justice practices they have
implemented, two interview participants did not have full autonomy to implement practices since
they were not the lead teacher. Preservice and intern teachers will need to have autonomy to
implement practices according to the needs of the learners in the classroom to increase outcomes
and continue developing their skills as new teachers.
Theme 10: Racial Justice Practices Have had Somewhat of an Impact and Demonstrated
by Relationship-Building
The timeframe in which this study was conducted did not permit the use of a longitudinal
study to examine the impact of implemented racial justice practices and student outcomes. To
understand the impact of such practices, preservice and intern teachers were asked their
perceptions of student outcomes. Of the survey participants, 47% believed the racial justice
practices had somewhat of an impact on student outcomes, followed by 26% believing the
practices have had a great impact. Close to 16% mentioned the practices did not have either an
impact or no impact, and 11% believed the practices did not have much impact (Figure 11).
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Figure 11
Impact of Racial Justice Practices Implementation
Interview participants shared a range of responses from students, including feeling safe
enough to share and process deeply personal and traumatizing experiences and teach lessons in
the classroom on these experiences. Additionally, Samantha shared how she created a safe space
for students to talk openly about their lived experiences and teach the class a lesson on a topic.
For example, a student took a traumatic experience like being followed by the police and accused
of assault and taught a lesson on trauma. Samantha stated:
In class, we talked about the concepts context of when they call you a terrorist. We had a
conversation about policing and how policing affects us. I had a student talk about how
she was followed by the police as an eighth grader, to and from school, on the bus, and
was accused of assault. As a result, she taught this lesson on trauma. The trauma stayed
with her, and it's something that she has to deal with. I appreciate my students being able
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to take those risks. I do restorative circles every seven-ish class days–many more circles
than any other teacher teaching in the classroom that isn't the coordinator for other people
to. Around all the sexual assault stuff, we had people disclosing for the first time that
they've been assaulted, as you know, and people were pretty comfortable disclosing. The
class also discussed the difference between bisexual and pansexual for the LGBTQ. I told
them there really isn't a difference. We talk about how I am in community with them and
how we are going to be responsible. The students do their best, although we are all burnt
out right now.
The student’s response is still a work in progress for Summer. However, she is encouraging
students to interrogate the curriculum. Summer shared:
It's an adjustment for students. For example, they often tell us to police them or other
students be like, “you need to tell them to shut the F up,” you need to be more
authoritarian, which I definitely see in certain ways. You know, it what I said about
needing to find balance because they are struggling with certain ways the curriculum is
attempting to teach. I encourage students question the curriculum. This is something I
want to do in my curriculum, as well as encourage. I encourage my students to be curious
since we know questioning is not how education is built now; it is built for students to
accept things and be like, yes.
Sophia’s students have expressed their appreciation for connecting their lived experiences to
classroom instruction. Additionally, students have felt very supported for the first time since
Sophia started working with them one-on-one. Sophia shared:
Students have expressed they are really glad I am actually trying to connect the
curriculum to their lives or to what they are experiencing, or to what is going on in the
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world. It makes it more interesting and entertaining, but something they can use in their
own lives. Also, you know I've really been doing my master's program right now, so my
own research and thesis stuff is focusing on student self-perception, student confidence
building around academic ability. I have students I have been able to do some one-on-one
work with or the first time they have felt truly supported. They've never pictured
themselves as a good student and now they feel like they're good students and that's really
what I want to.
Melissa experienced a connection with students by sharing more of her background during her
introduction, which made the students more comfortable with her presence. Melissa shared:
Introducing myself and showing my cultural background as a part of my introduction to
the class, and I noticed that some of the students were friendly toward me because I
talked about my Hispanic background a little bit. Some of the more Hispanic students in
the class were really sweet to me, and they called me mi esta because of my background.
I don't think they’ve ever done that with the main teacher.
Preservice and intern teachers believe the racial justice practices implemented during the
first year have impacted learners’ outcomes. Although, at this time, there is no way to truly know
the outcomes of the practices implemented, the students’ responses have been positive. A
longitudinal study is needed to understand the impact of the practices.
The research study is not a longitudinal study where one would have the opportunity to
examine student outcome data to determine the effectiveness of the teacher preparation program.
To examine student outcomes, preservice and intern teachers who participated in the interview
were asked about their perception of student outcomes in the first year. Relationship-building
was a prominent student outcome for interview participants.
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Since she is a preservice teacher with little autonomy to implement lessons in summer's
classroom, she focused on relationship-building with her students. Melissa stated:
I think the main one I would focus on is relationship-building because that's what I have
most control over are my relationships with each individual student. I feel like the
students are really comfortable with me and telling me whether it's the curriculum they
are struggling with, what their needs are, or what they are bringing to the classroom.
Although Melissa originally stated she did not have any student outcomes related to social
justice, she did mention the relationships she had built based on sharing her background. Melissa
shared:
I think the main one I would focus on is relationship building because that's what I have
most control over are my relationships with each individual student. I feel like the
students are really comfortable with me and telling me whether it's the curriculum they
are struggling with, what their needs are, or what they are bringing to the classroom.
Education is all about relationship-building. Relationship-building can lead to increased
trust, communication, willingness to engage, and feeling valued, heard, and affirmed from the
student’s perspective. Relationship-building is salient in education, and although this study was
not designed to be longitudinal, student outcomes are still achieved.
Theme 11: Plans for Next Year Ranged From Removing Grading Structures to Centering a
Student’s Home Language
Intern and preservice teachers were focused on their plans for the next school year,
including which racial justice practices they would like to implement when they begin teaching
in their classrooms. The racial justice practices that current preservice and intern teachers were
focused on ranged from removing grading structures to centering students’ home languages to
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building trust and community in the classroom.
Melissa stated she would implement shared leadership regarding grading and evaluation
with students. Melissa shared, “Next year, I will get rid of the grading structure. The students
will grade themselves and participate in qualitative feedback.”
Summer was focused on building the classroom culture early in the school year. Summer
stated:
The biggest thing is definitely creating community, trust and safety in the classroom is
my main priority. I'm really focused and thinking about what my unit will look like my
first semester. How do I set up safety and understanding between me and the students and
with each other? How do we setup agreements about how we treat each other and what
goes on in that space so the rest of the year can be rooted in something I have seen?
Sophia was focused on the expansion of history in her classroom. Moving past traditional
history, Sophia stated she would implement different types of history into her classroom
beginning next year:
I am planning to bring in two different types of history into the curriculum. I'm looking
at, for example, culinary history, music history and art history. These are the types of
courses I want to create. Some kind of community, there are some campuswide programs,
and you know events so thinking of students who want to maybe do a mural and there's
another club that. It is called get active. They specifically help students that are getting in
trouble for different things like graffiti stuff. I was thinking of doing some political
activists’ artwork that we're doing World War to connect political activists’ artwork
during World War I. They will complete a project for their summative assessment.
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Melissa stated she would honor the home languages of her students. Although the basis for her
class will be on a particular language, she will integrate the home language of her students.
Melissa shared:
I would say one thing I’m looking forward to is, I want to do a unit on home languages. I
am doing a world languages classroom for French, but I thought it would be interesting to
try to incorporate the home languages of the students in the class, like some of them
speak Vietnamese or Mien or Spanish, and so I wanted to do a unit where we're
comparing French grammar to their home language grammar. I thought that would be a
good way to kind of affirm their like cultural capital.
Next school year, preservice and intern teachers will enter their classroom and their
second year of teaching. In preparation for this transition, they are planning which racial justice
practices they will implement. Of the racial justice practices, building trust and community in the
classroom will support students to thrive and increase their engagement.
Summary of Findings for Research Question 3
The researcher asked about the current racial justice practices during their first year of
preservice and intern teaching, the students’ responses, perceived student outcomes, and their
plans for next year. Survey and interview participants provided a range of racial justice practices
they have implemented. While some intern and preservice students were given autonomy to
implement practices in their classroom, not all were afforded the opportunity. There is a gap in
theory-to-practice for a social justice-oriented teacher preparation program. Racial justice
practices were documented in this research question; however, none of the interview participants
aligned theories learned in the teacher preparation program to racial justice practices they have
implemented in the classroom. The perceived outcomes, based on the perceptions of the
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preservice and intern teachers, have impacted learners. The most prominent outcomes have been
increased relationships with students. A longitudinal study, following teachers and students over
time, is needed to truly understand the impact of racial justice practices.
Summary
Chapter Four highlighted the research study’s key findings in examining factors of a
social justice-oriented teacher preparation program (preprogram, program, and postprogram) and
its impact on building the capacity of future educators in urban schools and districts. A key
finding included preservice and intern teachers strongly agreeing or agreeing with the following
teaching for social justice definition: Teaching for social justice is defined as a commitment to
challenging social, cultural, and economic inequalities imposed on individuals arising from any
differential distribution of power, resources, and privilege. Although none of the research
participants mentioned a racial justice practice provided by the school, there was alignment on
this definition. Another key finding included participants' positionality and alignment to the
teacher preparation program's mission, culture, and objectives. The alignment is salient because
there is personal buy-in from those participating in the program. It ensures future educators will
receive the most out of their experience in the program and implement what they have learned in
their classrooms to increase learner outcomes. The last key finding included the diverse menu of
racial justice practices implemented during the first year of student teaching and their perceived
impact on learners. The racial justice practices category included the following: centering the
students’ experiences; culturally responsive pedagogy; student agency; racial justice literature;
grading practices; social and emotional learning; acknowledging biases; restorative justice circles
and conflict resolution; discussing the historical context of race, and creating a safe space. At the
core of these practices was the centering of students' lived experiences. Centering students’ lived
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experiences in instructional practices is the gateway to increasing their engagement in the
classroom and coursework and increasing their outcomes. The key findings in this chapter are all
important and serve a purpose in the recommendations and implications proposed in Chapter
Five.
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Chapter Five: Recommendations and Implications
Chapter Five reviews the research findings related to the literature, implications,
recommendations for practice, and future research opportunities. The chapter is organized into
three sections: (a) key findings, (b) recommendations and implications for social justice-oriented
teacher preparation programs, and (c) opportunities for future research. Chapter Five begins with
examining the research study findings concerning the literature to determine if there are new
contributions to the study of social justice-oriented teacher preparation programs. The next
section provides recommendations to support the progression of social justice-oriented teacher
preparation programs and increase the number of teachers participating in said programs, and
implications for palpable methods to increase social justice in university-based teacher
preparation programs. This is followed by a discussion of opportunities for future research and a
conclusion to the study.
This research study aimed to examine a social justice-oriented teacher preparation
program and students’ ability to transfer theory-to-practice during their first year of teaching.
The research study was derived from the inherent need to build the capacity of future educators
to understand, respond to, and meet the needs of diverse learners. In California, as of 2019, of the
estimated 6.2 million students enrolled in K–12 public education, 62% were students of color,
19% were English Language Learners, and 61% came from a socioeconomically disadvantaged
background, received free or reduced school lunch, and/or have parents who do not possess a
high school diploma or general education degree (Education Data Partnership, 2003; California
School Dashboard, 2019). As seen in past decades, currently practicing and prospective teachers
remain primarily White (80%), female, and middle class (Plachowski, 2019). Furthermore,
teacher education programs remain rooted in Whiteness. At the end of their 1-2-year journeys in
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a teacher preparation program, new teachers still do not feel prepared to teach in urban schools
and districts (Banks, 2015; Grosland & Matias, 2016; Ladson-Billings, 2000).
There is little empirical research examining the development of teachers who have
completed teacher preparation programs over time or the implementation and outcomes of
racially just teaching practices (Whipp, 2013). The gaps in current empirical research include:
features in the preparation program are looked at through a focus on only individual courses
rather than across the program; not understanding the differences of teachers’ background
experiences; lack of emphasizing the significance of identity concerning social justice in
programs; the lack of focus on the development of teachers’ capacity to respond to the needs of
diverse learners equitably; and the silence of literature focused on the preparation of teachers to
teach Black students (Ladson-Billings, 2000; McDonald, 2005). Of the available literature on
social justice-oriented teacher preparation programs, racial justice strategies include: critical
reflection as a strategy to think deeply about self as a racial, gendered, and cultural individual;
cultural and racial awareness; cross-cultural experiences before and during teacher preparation;
program course content and field experiences that challenged previous thinking; digital
storytelling to deconstruct Whiteness; enlisting contributions from all students, including
marginalized students, in the class and connections between students; implementing an
actionable and measurable curriculum to track improvement; constant discourse and comfort
with dissent; creating a safe and supported space for students; and managing the interests of the
community and stakeholders within the community (Grosland & Matias, 2016; Mills College,
2020; Milner, 2006; Whipp, 2013).
This research study examined the Mills College teacher preparation program and its
effectiveness to build the capacity of future educators to implement racial justice practices during
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their first year of intern and preservice teaching in the urban schools of Oakland Unified School
District. First-year teacher interns and preservice teachers participated in a quantitative survey. A
subset of the survey participants was invited to participate in an interview to better understand
how preprogram, program, and postprogram factors increase their capacity to teach for social
justice. The theoretical framework, Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Theory, informed this study. The
following research questions guided this study:
1. How do teacher preparation program students’ positionalities impact their
engagement in the program?
2. How do teacher preparation programs implement racial justice practices across the
entire program, including coursework, field placement, and during the first year of
teaching?
3. What are the racial justice practices of new pre-service teachers who attended the
Mills College social justice-oriented teacher preparation program?
Chapter Two presented the relevant literature related to social justice-oriented teacher
preparation programs in the following main categories: historical context of racism in education
and policy implications; teacher preparation and barriers to racial justice practices; and better
preparing teachers for urban settings. Chapter Three presented the mixed-method research study
methodology to better understand teachers’ capacity to teach for social justice during their first
year. Chapter Four presented the research findings, integrated into themes organized by the
research questions, based on 19 survey participants and five interview participants. The
quantitative survey was conducted first. After the quantitative surveys, analysis of the
demographic data was conducted to identify a cross-section of preservice and intern teachers to
participate in the interview. The survey data was analyzed using descriptive statistics, while the
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interview data were analyzed using Creswell’s (2014) six-step framework.
Findings
When examining the literature, the research study findings provide understanding and
assertion on the topic of social justice-oriented teacher preparation programs. The research study
findings suggest that providing more autonomy to teacher interns and preservice teachers to
implement racial justice practices and to demonstrate theory-to-practice in the classroom is of
primary importance for future educators. Eleven themes emerged related to the study’s three
research questions. The findings section summarizes and discusses the study’s findings
concerning the extant literature and current practice.
Research Question 1
Research Question 1 asked the following: How do teacher preparation program students’
positionalities impact their engagement in the program? Qualitative data related to Research
Question 1 produced four themes. The four themes are participants’ alignment with teaching for
social justice definition, lived experiences have impacted social justice teaching, and
positionality shapes one’s commitment to teaching for social justice.
The first finding confirmed one of the definitions of teaching for social justice per Whipp
(2013). Whipp (2013) posits the following definitions: (a) teaching for social justice is defined as
having beliefs with an emphasis on ethical values, care, and respect; (b) teaching for social
justice is defined as a commitment to challenging social, cultural, and economic inequalities
imposed on individuals arising from any differential distribution of power, resources, and
privilege; and (c) teaching for social justice is defined as recognizing and acting upon the power
that we have for making positive change. The majority of survey participants strongly agreed or
agreed with the following definition “Teaching for social justice is a commitment to challenging
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social, cultural, and economic inequalities imposed on individuals arising from any differential
distribution of power, resources, and privilege.” Survey participants strongly agreed and agreed
with the other two definitions. However, their level of agreement was not as high, and a couple
of participants disagreed with the definitions.
Interview participants aligned to this definition by naming the classroom practices they
use to challenge existing social and cultural inequalities that are still being perpetuated in the
education system. One participant does not align with the title of “teacher” but rather a facilitator
of learning where students are allowed to teach one another. Another participant expressed the
importance of keeping honesty at the forefront of education and not diminishing the truth when
teaching history in K–12 public education. Two interview participants expressed the need for
social justice to be equity-centered and community-oriented. While the last participant did not
have a definition, she is committed to incorporating social justice in her classroom. None of the
interview participants described a definition they learned in the social justice-oriented teacher
preparation program.
The second theme emerged assessed the impact of lived experiences and teaching for
social justice. Teaching for social justice is moving beyond awareness to understanding students'
lived experiences, affirming the cultures and experiences of all students, and creating inclusive
and equitable classrooms (Howard, 2019). When examining the impact of preservice and intern
teachers’ lived experiences and their impact on their teaching for social justice, more than half of
survey participants said their experiences before entering the teacher preparation program had
somewhat of an impact on their teaching for social justice. The remaining participants confirmed
their lived experiences had the greatest impact on their teaching for social justice.
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The lived experiences of interview participants ranged from being a criminal defense
attorney for indigent clients to growing up in a single parent to low-income household to
teaching English abroad and experiencing extreme privilege and oppression as a White person.
The lived experiences of the interview participants have impacted their teaching for social justice
as some of their experiences mirror the current reality of the students in the urban school district
they teach in.
The third theme from this research question addressed positionality shaping one’s
commitment to teaching for social justice. Douglas and Nganga (2013) defines positionality as
inclusive of how one identifies within the context of gender, race, class, sexuality, ethnicity,
culture, language, and other social factors. The majority of all survey participants said their
positionality shapes their commitment to teaching for social justice. Race is an attribute of
positionality and is affirmed by interview participants. The majority of interview participants
named their race as part of their positionality and commitment to teaching for social justice.
Additionally, for one participant, there was a mixed reaction. This participant expressed that she
believed she was taking up space from educators of color entering the classroom due to her race
as a White presenting mixed-race person. There was a belief that those individuals had more to
contribute to diverse learners' education than White presenting mixed-race educators.
The fourth theme included in this research question centers on critical reflection as a tool
to connect one’s positionality to their commitment to social justice. Critical reflection achieved
two objectives for interview participants—an opportunity to look inward and an opportunity to
delve deeper into a specific topic.
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Research Question 2
Research Question 2 asked the following: How do teacher preparation programs
implement racial justice practices across the entire program, including coursework, field
placement, and during the first year of teaching? Triangulation of preservice and intern teacher
survey and interview data correlated to Research Question 2 revealed four themes: (a) the
program’s mission, culture, and objectives align to the students’ positionality; (b) overall
satisfaction with the program; (c) the courses and curriculum have prepared students to teach in
urban schools and districts; and (d) courses, professors, cohort members, and field experiences
have had the greatest impact on teaching for social justice.
Survey data confirmed all participants, except one, believe the Mills College teacher
preparation mission, culture, and objectives align with students’ positionality. Craig et al. (2016)
posits a teacher preparation program that is social justice-oriented prepares teachers for specific
urban contexts, unpacks the generic urban terminology, and assists in the development of
sociocultural consciousness, culturally responsive pedagogies, consciousness-raising, and
advocacy. Interview participants were asked how the program’s mission, culture, and objectives
align with their positionality. Although none of the participants named the program’s mission,
culture, and objectives in their response, they did corroborate the literature by identifying the
anti-racist curriculum, being open to exchanging knowledge from the perspective of students and
their understanding of the current climate related to certain topics, and the abolition of an
oppressive educational system and instructional practices. The alignment of their positionality to
the program’s mission, culture, and objectives led to increased satisfaction with the teacher
preparation program.
A gap in current empirical research on social justice-oriented teacher preparation
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programs argues that features are looked at through a focus only on individual courses rather
than across the entire program (Ladson-Billings, 2000; McDonald, 2005). The interview
examined the entire program, including courses, curriculum, professors, field experiences, and
more, to help fill the gap in current research and understand the impact of preparing students to
teach for social justice in urban schools and districts. Participants named the program’s courses
and curriculum, without mentioning specific courses, assigned readings, and lessons, as
components contributing to their preparation to teach in urban schools and districts. In addition,
community orientation was another component mentioned. Courses in which the profession
focused on actual classroom experiences, the experiences of cohort members, field placement in
an urban school, and small classroom sizes have had the greatest impact on preparing students to
teach for social justice.
Research Question 3
Research Question 3 examined the racial justice practices of beginning preservice
teachers who attended the Mills College social justice-oriented teacher preparation program?
Survey and interview data related to Research Question 3 produced four themes. The four
themes are: (a) the evolvement of students during their first-year teaching; (b) racial justice
practicing centering the lived experiences of students; (c) the impact of racial justice practices;
and (d) plans for next year. The first theme emerged from examining preservice and intern
teachers’ perceived growth during their first year in the area of their knowledge about teaching
diverse students in urban schools. The majority of survey participants saw growth in this area.
Examples of how interview participants’ knowledge has evolved included the use of different
instructional practices, including diverse perspectives, and working with students to help them
understand their prejudices.
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Racial justice practices, per current literature, include the following: critical reflection as
a strategy to think deeply about self as a racial, gendered, and cultural individual; cultural and
racial awareness; cross-cultural experiences before and during teacher preparation; program
course content and field experiences that challenged previous thinking; digital storytelling to
deconstruct Whiteness; enlisting contributions from all students, including marginalized
students, in the class and connections between students; implementing an actionable and
measurable curriculum to track improvement; constant discourse and comfort with dissent;
creating a safe and supported space for students; and managing the interests of the community
and stakeholders within the community (Grosland & Matias, 2016; Mills College, 2020; Milner,
2006; Whipp, 2013). The overarching theme and sub-themes that rose from the various racial
justice practices implemented by preservice and intern teachers are centering the lived
experiences of students, which confirms several of the practices in current literature. The sub-
themes that emerged from the racial justice practices included: centering the student’s
experiences; culturally responsive pedagogy; student agency; racial justice books in the
classroom; grading practices; social and emotional learning; acknowledging biases; restorative
justice circles; discussing the historical context of race; and creating a safe space for learners.
Existing research examines practicing K–12 teachers’ effort to teach for critical social
justice in their classrooms. However, the current research has little connection between teacher
education programs and/or the impact of teacher practice in the classroom and student outcomes
(Aronson, 2020). Aronson's (2020) research is confirmed in this study since there was not
enough time to see an impact on student outcome data. The allotted timeframe for this research
study does not permit a longitudinal study to examine student outcomes concerning implemented
practices. Although the study timeframe does not permit a longitudinal study, survey and
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interview participants were still asked about their perceptions of student impact. The majority of
survey participants mentioned that the implemented racial justice practices had somewhat of an
impact. The perceived impact included building relationships with students, creating a safe space
where students can talk openly about trauma, and promoting student agency to teach lessons on
the topics. A longitudinal study would capture actual student outcomes.
The last theme that emerged in Research Question 3 included removing grading
structures and centering a student’s home language as racial justice practices preservice and
intern teachers are thinking about implementing next school year in their classrooms. One
participant stated she would eliminate the current grading structure and implement an evaluation
system instead. The evaluation system will allow the students to grade themselves and share
qualitative feedback to support the grade they have given themselves. Another teacher will honor
students’ home languages and culture by integrating the language into their curriculum and
classroom activities. The findings support and inform current research on social justice-oriented
teacher preparation programs.
Implications and Recommendations for Practice
The research study examined a social justice-oriented teacher preparation program and
students’ ability to transfer theory-to-practice during their first year of teaching. The study
findings established themes that inform the implications and recommendations presented in this
section. The recommendations are offered to ensure future educators in the teacher preparation
program are aligned to social justice, prepared to respond to diverse learners, and enact
classroom racial and social justice practices. The following implications and recommendations,
derived from the data collected in the research study, include personal and professional
development for all students in the program; racial justice practices provided by the teacher
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preparation program; and preservice and intern teachers given autonomy to implement racial
justice practices in the classroom during their first year of teaching.
Implication and Recommendation 1
Preservice and intern teachers need to be grounded in who they are, their racial identity,
purpose, positionality, and their alignment to social justice. While 95% of the survey participants
stated their positionality shape’s their commitment to teaching for social justice, ability and fit
based on race diminished their confidence to teach Black and brown students. All preservice and
intern teachers who participated in the interview were White or mixed-race, presenting as White.
Our learner population will continue to become more diverse. Future educators teaching for
social justice need the opportunity to become grounded in their racial identity, especially if they
are studying in a social justice-oriented teacher preparation program and teaching in urban
schools and districts. This recommendation can be accomplished through differentiated teacher
preparation experience pathways (Jones-Fosu, 2021).
Future educators entering a teacher preparation program come from diverse experiences
due to their social and cultural environments. As a result, just as we see when attempting to
weave equity into K–12 education, a one-size-fits-all approach is ineffective in preparing future
educators for the diverse learners they will teach. As part of the application and selection
process, Mills College could benefit from including a series of background questions related to
their preprogram experiences and at least one interview to better understand the students’
learning style, where they are in their racial identity, and social justice walk, and how the
program can create an environment to support their personal development. Additionally, the
teacher preparation program can create additional opportunities through professional
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development training focused on equity, social justice, culture, context, language, racial identity,
and social interaction to ground them in their racial identity (Jones-Fosu, 2021).
Implication and Recommendation 2
Preservice and intern teachers need autonomy in the classroom to implement racial
justice practices during their first year of teaching. Social justice teachers face many challenges,
including individual and institutional opposition, insufficient curricular resources, inadequate
training, and decreasing autonomy (Navarro et al., 2020). There was a difference in intern and
preservice teachers’ ability to implement racial justice practices in the classroom during their
first year of teaching. Two of the intern teachers had complete autonomy to implement racial
justice practices mainly due to the statewide teacher shortage and being the only teacher in the
classroom. On the other hand, the three preservice teachers were limited in implementing racial
justice practices since they were not the lead teacher in the classroom. This practice disrupts the
learning and practical application of racial justice practices in their first year of teaching. During
the first year, the lead teacher is supposed to create opportunities for preservice teachers to
implement their racial justice practices and observe and provide feedback. If preservice teachers
are not receiving these opportunities, how are they supposed to learn before entering their
classrooms?
There are various ways in which the Mills College teacher preparation program can
ensure preservice and intern teachers have the autonomy to implement racial justice practices in
the classroom. One of which is partnering with the school district, school site administrator(s),
and leading teachers to develop a professional development scope in which the preservice and
intern teachers are given autonomy to implement the racial justice practices they acquired based
on the needs of the learners in the classroom. The school system and teacher preparation program
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implement non-punitive accountability measures to ensure growth in the teachers’ racial identity
and racial justice instructional practices (Jones-Fosu, 2021). To ensure preservice and intern
teachers are successful and effective in their teaching for social justice to increase learners’
outcomes, they need adequate practice and feedback.
Implication and Recommendation 3
As part of the teacher preparation program courses, curriculum, and assignments, racial
justice practices should be explicitly provided and continue past students’ time in the program.
Survey and interview findings included racial justice practices that mainly centered the lived
experiences of learners in their classrooms. During the first year, the racial justice practices were
culturally responsive pedagogy, student agency, racial justice books, grading practices, social
emotional learning, acknowledging biases, restorative justice circles, historical context of race,
and creating a safe space. None of the racial justice practices mentioned in the survey nor
interview participants attributed their learning of these practices to the courses, curriculum,
assignments, discussions, and more from the teacher preparation program. Additionally, when
asked what racial justice practices they will implement next year when they enter their own
classroom, none of the interview participants referenced continuing to work with the university
or teacher preparation program on further implementation and development. The university and
teacher preparation program should create a pathway for continuous learning and implementing
racial justice to ensure successful, effective, and measurable practices.
Darling-Hammond et al. (2017) posits that in many successful school systems worldwide,
teacher learning is a continual process. Creating inclusive educational spaces and increasing
learner outcomes is a shared responsibility amongst the following stakeholders: school districts,
site administrators, teacher educators, student teachers, parents, and community members. All
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stakeholders also hold responsibility for contributing to the continual development of preservice
and intern teachers. A program exit strategy could include developing a long-term professional
development and mentoring plan that incorporates what teachers have learned in the program
through experience and based on current research theories and practices. By creating a pathway
such as the one mentioned here, teachers will feel more supported and increase the likelihood of
sustaining racial justice practices in the classroom over time.
Limitations and Delimitations
Scholars have critiqued the overabundance of small-scale, narrowly focused, qualitative
studies that do not necessarily produce generalizable outcomes supporting the need for further
research. The sample size for this research study will be relatively small. Given this fact, an
anticipated limitation will be generalizations for the larger population cannot be made. A final
limitation of this research study was the inability to conduct observations to experience first-year
teachers’ implementation of racial justice practices in the classroom and students’ reactions due
to the pandemic. Although this research study aims to impact and improve the learning outcomes
for diverse learners, there will be no way to examine this impact during the timeframe of the
study. As a result, a delimitation is the lack of student outcome data to see the impact of newly
implemented racial justice practices.
Future Research
The literature in this study noted the need for further research to fill in the gaps in
empirical research. Examinations of teacher preparation programs with a social justice focus
have revealed very little empirical research has been conducted to examine the quality and
effectiveness of social justice-oriented teacher preparation programs and their impact on student
learning outcomes. The opportunity for future research lies in understanding the differences in
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teachers’ backgrounds and experiences before entering the teacher preparation program;
assessing the needs of preservice and intern teachers entering and in the program; and replicating
this study to include examining learner outcomes over time (Ladson-Billings, 2000; McDonald,
2005).
The first recommendation for future research is to conduct an in-depth analysis of
preservice and intern teachers’ backgrounds to better understand the differences in backgrounds
and experiences before entering the teacher preparation program. The instrument used in this
study measured the impact of preservice and intern teachers’ prior experiences. Study findings
showed that preprogram experiences impacted preparing preservice and intern teachers to teach
diverse learners. However, there is an opportunity to dive deeper into the topic and ask explicit
questions to better understand students’ positionality, racial identity, prior experience, and
exposure to race, equity, and social justice, and how their experiences have (not) prepared them
to teach diverse learners in an urban setting. Future research in this area will greatly benefit K–
12 education as a whole, including students, school sites, districts, families, and communities,
because the teacher preparation program will better understand how to meet the needs of the
future educator instead of a one-size-fits-all method of educating.
A one-size-fits-all approach to preparing preservice and intern teachers will not always
lead to an increased usage of racial justice practices in the classroom. Just like K–12 learners,
there is an opportunity for teacher preparation programs to conduct a needs assessment to assess
where preservice and intern teachers are in their teaching for social justice walk and determine
what their programmatic needs are to increase their capacity. Preservice and intern teachers
better understand their learning style and what they need to be successful in the program and be
effective teachers in the classroom. By inviting the voices of students, the teacher preparation
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program is co-creating the learning experience for their students while helping to ensure learners
receive what they need from the program.
This research study was not longitudinal; therefore, there was no opportunity to examine
student outcomes based on the racial justice practices implemented during pre-service and intern
teachers’ first year of teaching. A longitudinal study could provide greater insight into the
enactment of racial justice practices and their impact on student learning. A longitudinal study
could also support effective practices, which need to be reframed and removed altogether.
Conclusions
The purpose of this study was to add to the body of research supporting social justice-
oriented teacher preparation programs (preprogram, program, and postprogram) and their impact
on building the capacity of future teachers to meet the needs of diverse learners improving their
academic outcomes. The research study confirmed that the Mills College teacher preparation
program prepares preservice and intern teachers to teach for social justice and implement racial
justice practices during their first year of student teaching. Study findings suggest that while
preservice and intern teachers’ positionality aligns with the program and impacts their
commitment to teaching for social justice, there is deeper interpersonal work to be done to ensure
future educators are grounded in who they are, their positionality, racial identity, purpose, and
commitment to teaching for social justice. Findings further suggest that racial justice practices
are not aligned with theory. There is a need to uncover practices explicitly attained from
participation in the program and continuous professional development collaboration past the
teacher preparation program. Additional findings suggest a need for a longitudinal study to better
understand the impact of racial justice practices on learner outcomes. The study presents
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recommendations and implications to support the findings, grounded in research to support
social justice in the classroom and beyond.
Teacher preparation programs are still rooted in Whiteness (Grosland & Matias, 2016).
Future educators who are participating in teacher preparation programs are entering the
classrooms of urban schools unprepared to respond to and meet the inherent needs of diverse
learners. Students can no longer be subjected to harmful teachers and instructional practices
because they did not do the personal development work and were not properly prepared for their
program. Students, who are innocent and exploring their identities through education, deserve
teachers who are self-aware, anti-racist, critically conscious, culturally responsive and have high
expectations they will succeed because they are nurtured and educated in an inclusive
environment. The reimagining of teacher preparation programs will provide this opportunity to
students.
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Appendix A: Interview Protocol
Hello! Thank you for your participation in this research study. As you know, I am
researching to better prepare first-year preservice teachers to teach social justice in urban
environments. This research study aims to better understand who you are, your positionality,
how you define and align with teaching for social justice, what you have gained from your
teacher preparation program, and what racial justice practices you have implemented in your
classroom. The results of this study will be used to provide recommendations for further research
and program and policy analysis.
This interview is confidential. I will not associate your responses with your identity
during the data collection, analysis, and reporting periods. To ensure that I collect accurate
responses, I will need to record our interview. Is it okay to record our session?
Research Questions
1. How do teacher preparation program students’ positionalities impact their
engagement in the program?
2. How do teacher preparation programs implement racial justice practices across the
entire program, including coursework, field placement and during the first year of
teaching?
3. What are the racial justice practices of new preservice teachers who attended the
Mills College social justice-oriented teacher preparation program?
117
Table A1
Interview Protocol
Research Question Addressed Conceptual Framework
Topic
Type of Question Interview Question
How does teacher preparation
program students’
positionalities impact their
engagement in the program?
Problem of teacher
learning
Opinion
1. How do you define
teaching for social
justice?
How does teacher preparation
program students’
positionalities impact their
engagement in the program?
Problem of teacher
learning
Experience
2. What experiences
before coming to your
teacher preparation
program have had the
greatest impact on your
knowledge, attitudes,
and skills related to
teaching for social
justice?
How does teacher preparation
program students’
positionalities impact their
engagement in the program?
Problem of teacher
learning
Background
3. How does who you
are (your positionality)
shape your
commitment to
teaching for social
justice?
How does teacher preparation
program students’
positionalities impact their
engagement in the program?
Problem of teacher
learning
Interpretive
4. When you hear the
phrase “critical
reflection”, what comes
to mind?
118
Research Question
Addressed
Conceptual Framework Topic Type of Question Interview Question
How do teacher preparation
programs implement racial
justice practices across the
entire program, during the
first year of teaching?
Teacher preparation program as
a whole
Interpretive
5. Now thinking
about the teacher
preparation
program’s mission,
culture, and
objectives, how
does your
positionality align
with these
elements?
How do teacher preparation
programs implement racial
justice practices across the
entire program, including
coursework, field
placement and during the
first year of teaching?
Teacher preparation program as
a whole
Feeling
6. How do you feel
the teacher
preparation
program has
prepared you to
teach in urban
districts and
schools?
How do teacher preparation
programs implement racial
justice practices across the
entire program, including
coursework, field
placement and during the
first year of teaching?
Teacher preparation program as
a whole
Experience and Behavior
7. What specific
components of the
teacher preparation
program (courses,
readings,
instructors, field
experiences, or
other experiences)
have had the
greatest impact on
your teaching for
social justice?
119
Research Question
Addressed
Conceptual Framework Topic Type of Question Interview Question
What are the racial justice
practices of beginning
preservice teachers who
attended the Mills College
social justice-oriented
teacher preparation
program?
Problem of teacher learning Knowledge
8. Describe how your
knowledge about
teaching diverse
students in urban
schools has
changed evolved
during your first
year of teaching?
11
120
Research Question
Addressed
Conceptual Framework Topic Type of Question Interview Question
What are the racial justice
practices of beginning
preservice teachers who
attended the Mills
College social justice-
oriented teacher
preparation program?
Program curriculum Experience
9. Describe some specific
examples of racial justice
teaching practices you
are currently using in
your classroom.
What are the racial justice
practices of beginning
preservice teachers who
attended the Mills
College social justice-
oriented teacher
preparation program?
Program curriculum Probe
10. What has been some of
the responses from the
students?
What are the racial justice
practices of beginning
preservice teachers who
attended the Mills
College social justice-
oriented teacher
preparation program?
Program curriculum Experience
11. What has been some
student outcomes you
have seen in the first
year?
What are the racial justice
practices of beginning
preservice teachers who
attended the Mills
College social justice-
oriented teacher
preparation program?
Program curriculum Ideal
12. What are some racial
justice practices you
would like to implement
next year?
121
120
Thank you for your time and for being a contribution to this research study. I appreciate
your honesty and vulnerability in naming your positionality, your experiences, and your
practices. Your participation will help to uncover what’s working in teacher preparation programs
and areas of growth to ensure the needs of Black and brown students are met.
Please note that although I recorded our session, I may need to contact you for
clarification as I am analyzing the data and will check in with you on our responses.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at vnparker@usc.edu. Thank you! Have
a great day.
122
120
Appendix B: Survey Protocol
Hello! Thank you for your participation in this research study. As you know, I am
conducting research to better prepare first year preservice teachers to teach for social justice in
urban environments. This research study aims to better understand who you are, your
positionality, how you define and align with teaching for social justice, what you have gained
from your teacher preparation program, and what racial justice practices you have implemented
in your classroom. The results of this study will be used to provide recommendations for further
research and program and policy analysis.
This survey interview is confidential. I will not associate your responses with your
identity at any point during the data collection, analysis, and reporting periods. To ensure that I
collect accurate responses, I will need to record our interview. Is it okay to record our session?
This research study is intended for Mills College teacher preparation program students
who are in their first year of preservice in an urban school district.
Instructions
Please read each question thoroughly and choose (circle) the response option that best
represents your thought on the question.
123
120
Research Question
The research question for this survey includes the following: How do teacher preparation
programs implement racial justice practices across the entire program, including preprogram
belief system, coursework, field placement and during the first year of teaching?
Quantitative Survey Questions
First, I will start by asking some questions about you, your experiences, and your positionality.
1. What year did you start the Mills College teacher preparation program?
a. Fill in answer________________
2. Do you strongly agree, agree, neither agree nor disagree, disagree or strongly disagree
with the following teaching for social justice definitions?
Strongly
Agree
Agree Disagree Strongly
Disagree
Don’t
know/Not
sure
Teaching for social justice is defined as
having beliefs with an emphasis on
ethical values, care, and respect.
5 4 2 1 0
Teaching for social justice is defined as
a commitment to challenging social,
cultural, and economic inequalities
imposed on individuals arising from
any differential distribution of power,
resources, and privilege.
5 4 2 1 0
Teaching for social justice is defined as
recognizing and acting upon the
power that we have for making
positive change.
5 4 2 1 0
3. Would you say your experiences prior to coming to this teacher preparation program has
had the greatest, somewhat, not very much or no impact at all on your knowledge,
attitudes, and skills related to teaching for social justice?
a. Greatest impact
b. Somewhat of an impact
c. Not very much impact
d. No impact at all
124
119
4. Does who you are (your positionality) shape your commitment to teaching for social
justice?
a. Yes
b. No
c. Not sure
Now, we will talk about your experiences in the teacher preparation program.
5. Overall, would you say you are very satisfied, satisfied, neither satisfied nor dissatisfied,
dissatisfied or very dissatisfied with the program?
a. Very satisfied
b. Satisfied
c. Dissatisfied
d. Very dissatisfied
6. Does Mill College’s teacher preparation program’s mission, culture and objectives align
with your positionality?
a. Yes
b. No
c. Not sure
7. Please rank the following components of the teacher preparation program from greatest
impact (8) to least impact (1) on your teaching for social justice…
a. Curriculum
b. Professors
c. Group assignments
d. Readings
e. Field experiences
f. Guest speakers
g. Networking with colleagues
h. Other experiences
8. Do you feel your knowledge about teaching diverse students in urban schools has
evolved during your first year of teaching?
a. Yes
b. No
c. Somewhat
d. Not sure
9. Please use the space below to describe the specific racial justice practices you
implemented during your first year of teaching.
125
119
10. How are your students thinking and feeling about racial justice practices implemented in
the classroom?
11. Do you feel the racial justice practices you have implemented during the first year of
teaching has had a great impact, somewhat of an impact, neutral impact, not very much
impact, or no impact at all on the learning outcomes of your current students?
a. Great impact
b. Somewhat of an impact
c. Not very much impact
d. No impact at all
12. Is there anything else you would like to include to support the implementation of racial
justice practices during your first year of teaching?
To assist in the data analysis process, I’d like to ask a few demographic questions.
13. What zip code do you currently reside in? __________
126
119
14. What is your race or ethnicity?
a. Black or African American
b. White
c. American Indian or Alaska Native
d. Asian or Asian American
e. Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander
f. Mixed Race_______________
g. Other____________________
15. What is your educational level?
a. Did not complete high school
b. High school diploma or GED or HiSET
c. Earned an associate’s degree or other 2-year degree
d. Earned a bachelor’s degree or other 4-year degree
e. Earned a master’s degree
f. Earned a doctorate (PhD, EdD, JD, PsyD)
Thank you for your time and for being a contribution to this research study. I appreciate
your honesty and vulnerability in naming your positionality, your experiences, and your
practices. Your participation will help to uncover what’s working in teacher preparation programs
and areas of growth to ensure the needs of Black and brown students are met.
Please note that although I recorded our session, I may need to contact you for
clarification as I am analyzing the data and will check in with you on our responses.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at vnparker@usc.edu. Thank you! Have
a great day.
Abstract (if available)
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Asset Metadata
Creator
Parker, Veronica Nicole
(author)
Core Title
Stop, dismantle and reimagine teacher preparation programs: an examination of racial justice practices of beginning preservice teachers…
School
Rossier School of Education
Degree
Doctor of Education
Degree Program
Educational Leadership (On Line)
Degree Conferral Date
2022-08
Publication Date
08/09/2022
Defense Date
04/18/2022
Publisher
University of Southern California
(original),
University of Southern California. Libraries
(digital)
Tag
intern teacher,OAI-PMH Harvest,preservice teacher,Social Justice,social justice-oriented teacher preparation program,sociocultural theory,teacher candidate,teacher preparation program
Format
application/pdf
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Language
English
Contributor
Electronically uploaded by the author
(provenance)
Advisor
Krop, Kathy (
committee chair
), Cash, David (
committee member
), Smith, Marisa (
committee member
)
Creator Email
parkernveronica@gmail.com,vnparker@usc.edu
Permanent Link (DOI)
https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-oUC111376691
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UC111376691
Legacy Identifier
etd-ParkerVero-11129
Document Type
Dissertation
Format
application/pdf (imt)
Rights
Parker, Veronica Nicole
Type
texts
Source
20220816-usctheses-batch-973
(batch),
University of Southern California
(contributing entity),
University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses
(collection)
Access Conditions
The author retains rights to his/her dissertation, thesis or other graduate work according to U.S. copyright law. Electronic access is being provided by the USC Libraries in agreement with the author, as the original true and official version of the work, but does not grant the reader permission to use the work if the desired use is covered by copyright. It is the author, as rights holder, who must provide use permission if such use is covered by copyright. The original signature page accompanying the original submission of the work to the USC Libraries is retained by the USC Libraries and a copy of it may be obtained by authorized requesters contacting the repository e-mail address given.
Repository Name
University of Southern California Digital Library
Repository Location
USC Digital Library, University of Southern California, University Park Campus MC 2810, 3434 South Grand Avenue, 2nd Floor, Los Angeles, California 90089-2810, USA
Repository Email
cisadmin@lib.usc.edu
Tags
intern teacher
preservice teacher
social justice-oriented teacher preparation program
sociocultural theory
teacher candidate
teacher preparation program