Preparing preservice mathematics teachers to teach for social justice

Abstract

This study describes preservice teachers' beliefs about teaching mathematics for social justice (TMSJ) after experiencing a two‐part professional development (PD) workshop on the subject. The research question is: To what degree does a PD experience, designed by a preservice teacher, influence preservice teachers' beliefs about TMSJ? The lead author is a preservice teacher who designed and enacted two workshops for education majors at Midwest University. Results indicated that preservice teachers' beliefs were statistically significantly different, with their beliefs trending toward “more strongly agree” about TMSJ after the two‐part PD. There was also less variance in their responses to the survey after the PD compared to before it. This research offers (a) a narrative of preservice teacher‐driven PD and (b) a rich description of a PD for preservice teachers, thus adding to prior literature about in‐service teachers' outcomes.

Establishing a PBL STEM Framework for Pre-Service Teachers

“…Few PSTs incorporated what might be considered controversial subject matter, such as race, gender, disabilities, and economic injustices, into their final project proposal. While studies such as that of Cahill and Bostick [38] indicate that PSTs have the desire to discuss social justice issues in their future classroom openly, the OECD [25] report reasoned that teachers often find it challenging to engage in more controversial topics and focus on only "safe" topics, like the topics of the PBL STEM units within our study. A key idea for educators to take away is echoed in Cochran-Smith's theory of social justice teaching [28], wherein teachers must acknowledge their tensions and challenges with social justice-centered teaching, knowing they can be managed in concrete ways.…”