Attending to the Concerns of Teacher Candidates in a Social Justice Course: A Self-Study of a Teacher Educator

Abstract

ABSTRACTIn this self-study, an education professor examines his efforts to attend to the concerns of teacher candidates concerning equity, diversity and social justice in a new School and Society course. The teacher educator asked teacher candidates complete exit cards after most classes and also read numerous teacher candidate journals and responses to readings along the way. Along with contributions from a critical friend, the rich feedback provided by teacher candidates on their experience of the issues raised in the course led him to address reluctance and resistance from mainstream teacher candidates. This article focuses on four themes that emerged from the analysis of the data: (1) teacher candidate interest in serving student needs; (2) the influence of discourses of privilege; (3) the value of exit cards in understanding their struggles; and (4) the importance of adapting instruction and written feedback to their concerns. Four tensions of practice are employed as a critical frame for analysing his experiences teaching this course. The study suggests that relational approaches, in which teacher educators are humble, vulnerable and receptive, can create safe spaces for teacher candidates to examine their resistance in order to become more inclusive as teachers.