Learning to Teach for Equity, Social Justice, and/or Diversity: Do the Measures Measure Up?

Abstract

This article reviews 45 assessment tools designed to capture aspects of teaching and learning to teach for equity, social justice, and/or diversity to understand whether the existing tools measure up to the most pressing concerns in teacher education. First, we provide an overview of the 45 assessment tools, focusing on conventional properties. Second, we argue that the tools need to be examined beyond the conventional categories by attending to culture in both the content of assessments and their development processes. Finally, we use Kirkhart’s multicultural validity framework to reexamine the tools, focusing on their theoretical, methodological, relational, experiential, and consequential dimensions. Our analysis reveals that only a few assessments “measure up,” when examined in terms of multicultural validity. This means they tend not to do enough to address the most pressing challenges in today’s teacher education context or to advance equity and social justice goals at a deep level.

Teaching mathematics for social justice: The challenges and the prospects in the Ghanaian senior high schools

“…TMfSJ involves more than studying social issues and solving injustices with mathematics. However, students must be empowered by using cultural settings and submitting their concerns about complex equity issues (Ayoub Mahmoudi et al, 2014;Chang & Cochran-Smith, 2022). It therefore proves the importance of instructional strategies and a classroom culture that fosters equitable participation if education becomes the practice of freedom through which people learn how to transform their world.…”

“…The challenges in teaching social justice includes social and political issues, which may replace rich, rigorous mathematics. Some teachers fear TMfSJ because it encourages students to question authority and think critically (Chang & Cochran-Smith, 2022). Planning, incorporating social justice, and covering mathematics also take time.…”

“…Identity and power dominate this encounter. Mathematical and social justice education enables instructors to develop their professional knowledge and instructional practice (Chang & Cochran-Smith, 2022). More than mathematical content knowledge is needed for 21st-century mathematics teaching.…”

The Intersection of Equity Pedagogy and Technology Integration in Preservice Teacher Education: A Scoping Review

“…Equity pedagogy’s multifaceted and complex roots (Chang & Cochran-Smith, 2022; Reagan & Hambacher, 2021) can be traced back to the 1970s, when scholars began conceiving how to effectively teach students who had been historically minoritized (Caldera, 2021). Various related frameworks exist, such as Nieto and Bode’s (2017) components of social justice education, which prompts teachers to challenge stereotypes, provide appropriate resources for learning, draw on students’ strengths and experiences, and promote agency for social change.…”

Becoming Equitable Educators: Practical Measures to Support Teachers’ Dispositional Growth

“…We need to know much more in teacher education about systemic supports that teachers need to prepare lessons, organize classrooms, relate with diverse families, and teach content in meaningful and socially just ways for students across social class, language, race/ethnicity, immigration status, religion, gender, and so on (Chang & Cochran-Smith, 2022 ; Kaur, 2012; Sleeter, 2008). Supports in teacher preparation programs and in schools should be responsive to critiques about definitions and standards (Damon, 2007), empirical and scientific rigor (Murray, 2007), and the purposes of assessment (Diez, 2007) in teacher dispositions literature.…”