Living the Hopeful Curriculum: Reflections on Pedagogy

It Takes Courage: Fostering the Development of Critical, Social Justice-Oriented Teachers Using Museum and Project-Based Instruction

“…It is through these localized, relevant experiences that genuine learning occurs. Renner and Brown referred to the importance of creating a dialogic pedagogy that raises a critical awareness in the learner (Renner & Brown, 2006). Similarly, Yosso (2005) recommended teachers not only critically examine the systemic structures that support deficit model thinking about students from nondominant backgrounds, but also that these teachers (and preservice educators) need to spend time in communities of color to learn more about Downloaded by [University of Nebraska, Lincoln] at 15:45 10 April 2015 behaviors and values, also known as community cultural wealth, that are privileged in these communities.…”

“…Unlike disparate readings and lecture, experiential learning requires preservice practitioners the opportunity to Downloaded by [University of Nebraska, Lincoln] at 15:45 10 April 2015 engage the community critically and self-examine their own pedagogical beliefs (Palmer, 1998;Renner, 2009). As Renner and Brown (2006) noted, developing experience-based connections means classrooms "become local communities of critical production and resistance" (p. 22). Utilizing community spaces and places for experiential learning also validates theoretical and pedagogical principles by providing substantive examples from which to anchor insightful discourse.…”