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Preparing Preservice Teachers for Social Justice Teaching: Designing and Implementing Effective Interventions in Teacher Education

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Handbook of Social Justice Interventions in Education

Part of the book series: Springer International Handbooks of Education ((SIHE))

Abstract

Social justice has emerged as a major trend in teacher education due to increased diversity and persistent inequality. While there is a compelling need for social justice teacher education, designing and implementing effective interventions in teacher education is a complex undertaking requiring professional expertise. A theory for social justice education needs to be grounded not just in a theory of justice, but also in theories of practice and teacher preparation. The first section of the chapter reviews relevant theory and then situates it to the context of the landscape of teacher education. In turn, a theory of social justice teacher education needs to be supported by professional expertise related to the pedagogy of teacher education. The second section applies principles of teaching and learning, taking a social constructivist stance and adopting an equity literacy framework. Sound curriculum and pedagogy need to be applied at the level of lesson and course design, most notably in courses with a social justice focus. The final section offers a range of strategies designed to (1) frame identities and build community; (2) build social and critical consciousness, (3) consider historical, institutional and structural contexts; and (4) move towards action in classrooms and schools. While designing and implementing effective social justice interventions in teacher education is demanding work, improvement is possible through the work of professional teacher educators committed to social justice at the program level and in the teacher education classroom.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Education, Brock University, Hamilton, ON, Canada

    Julian Kitchen

  2. Faculty of Education, Brock University, St. Catharines, ON, Canada

    Leanne Taylor

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  1. Julian Kitchen
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  2. Leanne Taylor
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Correspondence to Julian Kitchen .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Blacksburg, VA, USA

    Carol A. Mullen

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Kitchen, J., Taylor, L. (2020). Preparing Preservice Teachers for Social Justice Teaching: Designing and Implementing Effective Interventions in Teacher Education. In: Mullen, C. (eds) Handbook of Social Justice Interventions in Education. Springer International Handbooks of Education. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-29553-0_70-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-29553-0_70-1

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  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-29553-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-29553-0

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