Abstract
Elementary pre-service teacher education offers important insights in terms of how teachers understand and develop criticality surrounding self-reflexivity, interaction with social studies content, and pedagogy. This study applied critical self-authorship frameworks, Freire's theory of conscientisation, and PhotoVoice methodology to explore pre-service teachers' self-awareness of their developing professional identities as situated within an elementary social studies methods course. Broadly, the study explored the question, How does critical examination of our identities shape our understandings of elementary social studies education? Results demonstrate an emerging awareness of the influence of personal history and experience, place, and multiple perspectives on learning and teaching social studies, but a need for more comprehensive and sustained attention to criticality throughout entire teacher preparation programs is needed to achieve self-transformation and antiracist/anticolonial pedagogy. These results offer theoretical and practical guidance for thinking about critical social studies elementary teaching and teacher education.
Highlights
Social studies education has long marginalized diverse and critical perspectives, offering instead a whitewashed version of history and current events (Ladson-Billings, 2003; Paris, 2012; Shear, et al, 2015)
Research suggests that preservice teachers (PTs) who critically examine their own histories and identities are better prepared to advocate for social justice and informed action as practicing teachers (Ellerbrock, et al, 2016; McGregor, et al, 2015)
The PhotoVoice projects highlighted many themes that relate to identity, including the importance of personal experience and heritage, connections to place, and expanding awareness about inequities and multiple perspectives
Summary
Social studies education has long marginalized diverse and critical perspectives, offering instead a whitewashed version of history and current events (Ladson-Billings, 2003; Paris, 2012; Shear, et al, 2015). We recognize that this article potentially reinforces the tendency to explore students’ identities without confronting the many ways our identities shape how we view our students, how we conduct research, and how we reflect on our practice(s). To address this challenge, we include an explicit positionality statement here, and throughout the rest of this article we highlight examples of how we intentionally consider our identities in our work as teacher educators and scholars. In Montana, we are responsible for the implementation of Montana’s Indian Education for All (IEFA), which mandates all students, preK-20+, learn about the histories and contemporary experiences of the Indigenous peoples whose homelands became Montana in order to reduce biases, sustain and revitalize Indigenous cultural identities, and expand relevance and accuracy for all learners (Stanton, et al, 2019)
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