Tensions in school context and teacher praxis in equity-oriented professional learning

Abstract

Teaching language-minoritized students requires educators to gain equity-oriented ways of thinking and teaching. Using critical sociocultural perspectives on teacher learning, pedagogy, and coaching, we explore how 22 teachers at two United States urban elementary schools experienced a year-long, equity-oriented instructional coaching program focused on pedagogical practices called the Enduring Principles of Learning. Drawing on Freire's idea of praxis, interview data were analyzed to reveal tensions arising from enacting new pedagogical practices and how these tensions (or the lack thereof) related to teachers' professional learning. School climate and principal leadership style generated different types of tension, resulting in differential teacher uptake.