Understanding Diversity Through Social and Community Inquiry

Abstract

This article describes a portion of a long-term, action-research project investigating the teaching of an elementary social studies methods course for preservice teachers from a social justice framework. Other major foci for the course are integrated with topics related specifically to social studies teaching and learning: cultural diversity, an inquiry orientation to teaching, and teaching for social justice. The authors describe and analyze the community and social inquiry assignments used to develop the concepts of marginalization and privilege within the course. By examining their students’ developing understanding of marginality, the authors address particular aspects of assignments that seemed to facilitate and hinder this development, offering new understandings of their own practice as teacher educators for social justice. They frame their ongoing agenda for action research to develop learning experiences designed to promote political understanding among preservice teachers as rooted in the fight for social justice and offer suggestions for other teacher educators working to prepare teachers to teach for positive social change.

The Design and Implementation of a Short Course, Focusing on Metacognition, to Develop Writing Skills for University Students for Whom English Is an Additional Language: An Action Research Study

“…Here the aim is social change and movement toward a more just and democratic society (e.g., Elliot, 1985;Hyland & Noffke, 2005). Rather than describing schools and classrooms, the goals of critical action researchers involve changing educational structures and transforming society.…”

Preparing Teachers for Teaching Immigrant Students Through Service-Learning in Immigrant Communities

“…Given the opportunity to enter the non-university community in relationship with people outside their own groups, students cross the border into social understanding and social change (Verducci & Pope, 2001), in part by becoming aware of cultural experiences that shape their own identity (Ross, 2008). Many white preservice teachers anticipate working with culturally diverse students, but lack cross-cultural background, knowledge, and experience (Dowell, 2009;Sleeter, 2001) to work with children with socioeconomic, ethnic, and linguistic circumstances different from their own (Cochran-Smith, 1999;Freire, 1970;Freire, 1997Freire, /2005Greenberg & Moll, 1990;Hyland & Noffke, 2005;Ladson-Billings, 1994Moll & González, 1994;Nieto & Bode, 2008;Swick & Rowls, 2000). Experiences that foster an understanding of children's lives challenge previously held implied deficit perceptions of K-12 students and their communities (Cooper, 2007;Potts & Triplett, 2008).…”

Diversity in Teacher Education: A Double Helix

“…22 Nora E. Hyland and Susan E. Noffke submit that such legacies impel white teachers to perceive their diverse students through a demeaning lens of deficiency, a lens that tends to reify white teachers' privilege. 23 Changing these perceptions requires some form of treatment-teacher preparation programs. According to Baldwin, Buchanan, and Rudisill, teacher preparation programs serve "as a vehicle through which to examine in depth personal bias and racism and to better understand the meaning of diversity."…”