Situated performances in a graduate teacher education course: an inquiry into the impact of Cultural and Political Vignettes (CPVs)

Abstract

This inquiry investigates teachers’ perceptions regarding the impact of Cultural and Political Vignettes (CPVs) and situated performance activities in their graduate teacher education course, Literacy Instruction for Diverse Learners, at a large urban university in New York City. The study involved a pedagogical strategy that the author created for use in her own teacher education courses which she terms Cultural and Political Vignettes (CPVs). CPVs are cultural and political situations that are presented to teachers so that they can practice the decision‐making skills that they need to use with students, parents, colleagues, and administrators in the diverse classrooms of the New York City public schools. They deal with sensitive cultural and political issues, such as race, class, gender, ethnicity, school politics, sexual preference, and religion and are designed to help teachers to reflect upon their values, ideologies, biases, and educational philosophies. What sets this research apart and makes it of interest to other teacher educators is that although much has been written about the challenge of working with diverse student populations and its impact on the field of teacher education, the majority of the research in this area has focused on the attitudes and lack of knowledge of teachers, rather than pedagogical practices that actually prepare teachers to be successful. The findings of the study suggest that one way in which teacher educators can help beginning teachers view their field as a series of complex and dynamic exchanges between culturally, linguistically, and politically positioned human beings is by having them actively participate in writing activities and situated performances that highlight and unpack these hidden challenges of the teaching profession. This study has implications regarding further research about the use of CPVs and situated performance in teacher education programs. It would be worthwhile to replicate the present study (or modified, improved versions) in other teacher preparation courses and institutions in urban, suburban, and rural areas to see if future participants in a variety of settings find these pedagogical strategies equally effective. Further research in this area will help to address the challenges in teacher education regarding better preparing teachers to deal with cultural and political issues in their classrooms and schools because rather than simply discussing these challenges, these studies will contribute to filling a void in the literature in this area by actually advocating specific pedagogical methods and practices for addressing them.