Program Redesign Toward Democratic Teacher Education

Abstract

Background: We build on participatory and critical understandings of democracy to analyze a two-and-a-half-year collaborative redesign of our teacher education program. Purpose: To theorize and design for the seemingly everyday, ordinary, and unremarkable work it takes for teacher education programs to embody democratic principles and practices—an effort that is simultaneously outward and inward looking. Research Design: Self-study. Findings/Results: We outline three organizing principles for teacher education redesign: (1) collectively name the societal purpose(s) that will guide our work as teachers and teacher educators; (2) develop a programmatic lens that allows us to see our individual contributions to a program as they relate to the holistic preparation of novice teachers; and (3) deliberately co-construct and sustain open participatory spaces so that various constituents of a program of teacher education learn to practice and enact the first two principles. Conclusion: Our analysis contributes to a theory and practice of democratic teacher education that is grounded in the everydayness of programs and has the interpretive power to understand and help transform the obstacles, structures, and relationships that hinder justice-oriented, reflexive, deliberative, participatory, educative democratic practice in teacher education.