The Time Is Now: Modeling the Tenets of Critical Pedagogy for Our Future Teachers at Hispanic Serving Institutions

Abstract

At this historic moment, the quest to develop equitable and inclusive curriculum is even more imperative to support all students in the learning process. This urgency becomes even more relevant when our K-12 schools need teacher education programs to prepare future teachers from diverse backgrounds with necessary tools to engage and empower underrepresented groups in social justice practices. One of the best guides for this task is critical pedagogy. This study sought to determine if Education Preparation Programs (EPPs) at three Hispanic Serving Institutes (HSIs) in North Texas were devoting their curriculum to principles of critical pedagogy. The study was guided by a critical pedagogy framework developed by Giroux (2020). This framework was used to analyze the EPPs required courses’ syllabi. In our article, we discuss how the EPPs are supporting preservice teachers’ knowledge of critical pedagogy aspects and inconsistencies found among the HSIs in our region. Additionally, implications are shared for further use of the framework to assess EPP curriculum, guide program revisions, and encourage discourse among EPPs at HSIs on how to best serve our students.