"Can we talk?": cultivating racial literacy through inquiry with teacher candidates
| Author(s) | Wilson-Poe, Chanelle E. | |
| Date Accessioned | 2018-09-26T11:48:35Z | |
| Date Available | 2018-09-26T11:48:35Z | |
| Publication Date | 2018 | |
| SWORD Update | 2018-07-23T22:13:47Z | |
| Abstract | Educators who teach in schools that predominantly serve students of color, from low socio-economic backgrounds, and from inner cities neighborhoods require learning experiences that allow them to understand their own ethnic and racial identity, potential prejudices, and implicit biases in order to more clearly view their students, their classroom interactions, and even students’ families from different perspectives. This Education Leadership Portfolio (ELP) explores the journey of teacher candidates through participation in race-inquiry focused pre-professional development (PPD). ☐ Acknowledging the importance of understanding race, and its implications in classrooms, is a foundational building block for teacher candidates who serve in majority-minority, urban public schools. Teacher candidates, who engaged in race inquiry and critical reflection developed increased racial literacy skills to: inquire about race, recognize race, and reflect on race. Guided experience in using the inquiry method helped teacher candidates to distinguish issues, explore various methods of examination and investigation, and this was paired with collaborative construction of meaning, in inquiry group meetings through critical reflection. ☐ This qualitative study supported participants through a semester-long inquiry process, where they investigated self-discovered areas of inquiry from a racial lens. Through inquiry-based approaches, teacher candidates participated in a series of inquiry group sessions to acknowledge race, make sense of their own racial identity, and examine the racial dynamics of their student teaching experience. ☐ Upon experiencing the race inquiry group sessions, teacher candidates discussed powerful new understandings on their thoughts, actions, and beliefs about racial identity, racial consciousness, the role of race in schools, and race in broader society. The careful development of this PPD created the opportunity to set teacher candidates on a trajectory to become racially and equity literate. The focus on the improvement of racial literacy skills helped teacher candidates pay attention to race-based inequities and more equitable practice in education. Teacher candidates came away from this experience reporting: an understanding that race matters, an increased race and bias awareness, and a recognition that race intersects with social context, curriculum and school systems, and students’ home lives. ☐ This study examined the usefulness of race inquiry intervention to develop recommendations for the Elementary Teacher Education clinical experience program, at the University of Delaware. The recommendations are to formally incorporate race inquiry groups into the structure of student teaching, guided by a trained facilitator, and organized to support teacher candidates during the first and second semester of clinical experience. Race inquiry work will be beneficial to all teacher candidates, but it is especially necessary for those serving in majority-minority, urban public schools. Critical race inquiry created the possibility for teacher candidates to talk about race and make sense of an issue that is often overlooked in ways that will shape their teaching practice beyond student teaching. | en_US |
| Advisor | Dow, Rosalie Rolón | |
| Advisor | Soslau, Elizabeth | |
| Degree | D.Ed. | |
| Department | University of Delaware, School of Education | |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.58088/rsxj-qr42 | |
| Unique Identifier | 1054245889 | |
| URL | http://udspace.udel.edu/handle/19716/23824 | |
| Language | en | |
| Publisher | University of Delaware | en_US |
| URI | https://search.proquest.com/docview/2085987319?accountid=10457 | |
| Keywords | Education | en_US |
| Keywords | Race inquiry | en_US |
| Keywords | Racial literacy | en_US |
| Keywords | Teacher education | en_US |
| Keywords | Urban education | en_US |
| Title | "Can we talk?": cultivating racial literacy through inquiry with teacher candidates | en_US |
| Type | Thesis | en_US |