Calling In, Not Calling Out

With a focus on transformation, this chapter engages educators in considering how the key ideas in Critical Race Theory may be immediately applicable in their own settings. The authors explain ways to define, identify, and disrupt microaggressions, and explore ways to serve as empathetic allies to marginalized students, families, and teachers. Grounded in the lived experiences of the two authors as they teach courses in an initial teacher preparation program at a large, urban institution in the Western U.S., this chapter includes vignettes that highlight the processes of calling in and being called in as a means to work towards greater equity and reduced oppression in educational and social settings.

This Is How I Learn

This chapter presents research on how Culturally Responsive Mathematics Teaching (CRMT) and a critical hope framework can be used as learning tools in the alternative high school classroom. Our study shows how 12 high school students and two teachers, one in high school and one in post-secondary, can work together to nurture students' personal and collective identity, agency, and hope. We use the concept of the “six words” from the Race Card Project (Norris, 2015) to co-create spaces that question the dominant narrative, which describes students as dropouts, and that offer spaces of hope and solidarity. As researchers, we believe without student collaboration in the research process itself, their voices will be muted in the academic language describing them and the dominant narrative that disempowers them. We believe that we have not achieved a true social justice curriculum until there is action where hope can surface (Freire, 1970).

We Drank the Cola in Collaboration

Developing high quality teachers is at the center of education reform and previous research has highlighted, high quality in-service teacher professional development leads to improved instruction, student learning, and ultimately promotes social equity. Using an Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) theoretical framework, the voices and experiences of educators in Haiti were captured. This study reveals the following themes: 1) an opportunity for self-improvement, 2) an avenue for improving students learning, and 3) an approach to contributing to colleagues' development. An understanding of these themes from a cross-cultural perspective is provided with the objective that school personnel, receiving this population of students will develop an understanding of Haitian student's educational experiences.

Exploring Technology Through Issues of Social Justice

This action research project focuses on student-centered learning through the application of cultural relevant pedagogy and culturally responsive teaching in a high school summer enrichment computer science course. The research question guiding this project was: How does the integration of cultural competencies and culturally responsive teaching impact student learning in the secondary classroom? The content of the course focused on students learning about computer applications, research using digital resources retrieved from the Internet, and digital literacy as outlined by the International Society for Technology in Education Standards Students. This chapter examines pedagogy and practice highlighting the integration of culturally relevant pedagogy and cultural relevant teaching into a computer science course focused on current events and issues of social justice.

Developing Resilience through Experiences

The principal focus of this chapter is resiliency theory, as an expanding ideology attempting to provide supportive resources with suggestions for how education practitioners might function, as positive social change agents in organizations and institutions. Elemental to current transformational and remedial trends under construction in organizations and institutions, education practitioners are increasingly responsible for distressed student populations. Scholars from various disciplines have contributed to the current state of this ideological reformulation, titled resiliency theory, while research investigations presently continue to unfold and develop. Data were gathered electronically from First Year Seminar instructors during the 2015 school year from faculty questionnaires with eight questions focusing on the following areas: engaging topics, successful instructional strategies and benefits of FYS courses. Findings suggested: 1) strengthened positive external support systems, such as mentoring and experiential learning programs, 2) increased personalized academic learning environments, and 3) affirmation of the “value” in higher education.

Teacher Education and Digital Equity

For close to two decades, researchers have discussed the prevalence of digital divide in the United States. Scholars have also proposed principles to bring about digital equity. The purpose of this chapter is to examine both conceptual and empirical reviews and studies conducted in this millennium to bring about digital equity. The chapter informs teacher education programs, researchers, school administrators, policymakers, teachers, and other stakeholders about evidences and recommendations to bring about digital equity in US K-12 and teacher education.

Cultural Self-Study as a Tool for Critical Reflection and Learning

The purpose of this chapter is to introduce a research study based on the Cultural Self-Study method and to describe the application of this method with teachers. A specific example from the empirical study of Canadian expatriate teachers is used to illustrate how the tool and its application look in real life, and what data are generated by the use of this tool. The Integral Model is described as a useful framework for analysis of these types of data, and the analysis is illustrated using examples from this empirical study. Based on this experience with the use of Cultural Self-Study, the authors provide recommendations for the use of self-study in pre-service teacher training.

Preparing Teacher Candidates for Diverse Classrooms

A majority of PK-12 teachers are White, middle-class woman who speak only English (National Center for Education Statistics [NCES], 2012); many of these teachers report a lack of confidence to adequately meet the needs of a diverse classroom of students (Hollins & Torres-Guzman, 2005), particularly those with background different from that of the teachers (Helfrich & Bean, 2011). The perceived lack of preparedness to serve diverse students, whether factually based or not, has been attributed to poor training provided by teacher preparation programs (Cho & DeCastro-Ambrosetti, 2005). This chapter suggests that teacher preparation programs, regardless of geographic location and demographics of their teacher candidates, model a spirit of inclusivity and be intentional in offering an integrated approach to preparing teacher candidates to be highly-effective in working with all students regardless of diversity represented.

An Integral Analysis of Labeling, Inclusion, and the Impact of the K-12 School Experience on Gifted Boys

Gifted learners are frequently marginalized in community classrooms, as they are placed in competition for special education support, with the students who struggle to meet the minimal curricular demands. In this chapter, we describe the practices of identifying and labelling gifted boys, from the perspective of gifted boys attending high school and from the perspectives of a school system. The case discussed is a large urban public school system, which endeavours to effectively identify gifted students and provide them with learner-centred learning environments. We use Wilber's (2000, 2006) Integral model as a conceptual framework to analyze the findings from an empirical study of gifted boys' school experiences (Alisat, 2013). These findings are also supported by our critical praxis, observing and conversing with gifted young people. The Integral Model is a useful framework for understanding the multiple factors impacting gifted students' daily experiences, engagement and achievement.

Disposition and Early Childhood Education Preservice Teachers

This study sought to investigate the development of social justice dispositions in early childhood preservice teachers. The participants of the study included two preservice teachers assigned to a four-week prekindergarten field experience, one Black and the other White, both female. This was a qualitative study utilizing observational case study methods and open coding. Data were collected using the Cultural Fluency Survey, the annotated lesson plans of the preservice teachers, and the reflective journal the kept; as well as the recorded responses of the prekindergarten students during the literature lesson in pictorial form. The researchers found the early childhood preservice teachers who participated in this study exhibited strong social justice dispositions in development. The current study may help teacher educators consider what areas of the early childhood program could be changed to equip relevant preservice teachers with multiple opportunities and field placement.