A Journey Towards Equity and Diversity in the Educator Workforce

Abstract

In this article, co-written by a self-identified White female professor and a self-identified Black male doctoral student, the authors address the pressing need to train and retain a teacher workforce willing and able to foster equity for students from nondominant racial, ethnic, and linguistic backgrounds. They make three arguments. First, the impact of educator work is deeply entwined with student and teacher identities as well as the cultural knowledges, histories, and experiences that students and teachers bring to classrooms. Second, professional knowledge must be interdisciplinary, drawing on a number of social science and humanities disciplines to inform practice and ongoing inquiry in practice. Third, the critical shortage of research on the interaction between individual and collective educator identities and teacher learning must be addressed. The authors conclude with a call to regroup the preparation of all educators, including special educators, to become more explicit and present in discourse about ability, race, gender, sexuality, and other identity markers. Both discourse and curricula need to represent and educate our nation’s students about the rich tapestry of diversity that manifests in multiple forms of knowledge, social, political, and intellectual capital. The teacher workforce needs to be prepared and supported to do this work.