Integrating social justice into middle grades teacher education

Abstract

In middle grades teacher education, the literature regarding issues of diversity, equity, and social justice practices is exceptionally sparse. In keeping with recent arguments about the state of middle grades education, we contend that middle grades teacher education programs, including ours, are not where they need to be in preparing teachers to meet the needs of every young adolescent learner. In this paper, we explore our ongoing adventures reconceptualizing a middle grades teacher education program at a comprehensive, research-intensive public university in the southeast. We describe how our commitment to critical pedagogies, one of the signature commitments of our middle grades program, appeared within our teacher candidates’ first course in the program. More specifically, the course we highlight introduces justice-oriented ways of knowing and being that we continue to reinforce throughout the two-year initial certification program. We conclude the article by describing our plans to strengthen the program’s focus on the role of middle grades educators as change agents prepared and willing to push back against oppressive systems and practices to support social justice and equity for every young adolescent in their homes, schools, and communities.