Roles, practices and contexts for acting as agents of social justice – student teachers’ perspectives

Abstract

Student teachers are oftentimes encouraged to apply theoretical principles of social justice to their professional practice. However, this can be problematic when theoretical knowledge is contested, or if it is inconsistent with the practices in their future workplaces. Studies in this area often examine student teachers' beliefs and understanding of their roles without taking account of how concrete working contexts shape what they see as possible in their practice. This study explored how students in two teacher education programmes based at the University of Edinburgh perceived their roles, practices and contexts for acting as agents of social justice. Mixed methods were used for data generation and triangulation including a questionnaire survey (n=299) and scenario-based interviews (n=9) to explore how students think about social justice issues in context. Student teachers generally saw agency for social justice as part of their role. Their understanding of the ways of addressing context-embedded issues of social justice focused on classroom practices while they raised concerns about how their practice depends on others in the system. We discuss the implications of these findings for teacher education.

An evaluation of a professional development program aimed at empowering teachers’ agency for social justice

“…They commit themselves to social justice or desire to make a difference in students' lives, and they link their agency to a moral vision (Fullan, 2016). Doing that requires teachers to examine and explicate their own beliefs or vision regarding social justice and educational equality (Pantić et al, 2019;Van Vijfeijken et al, 2023). This might enable them to examine the effectiveness of their school's practices for promoting educational equality.…”

“…Engaging in dialogue involves considering social justice concerns and working toward what is good for all children (Pantić and Florian, 2015;Wang et al, 2017;Van Vijfeijken et al, 2021). Despite the general agreement among educational scholars that teachers as change agents play an essential role in pedagogical approaches that promote social justice in their classrooms, few studies have investigated what empowers them to adopt this role (Pantić et al, 2019;Min et al, 2021). There is a pressing need to support teachers' agency for social justice (e.g., Pantić and Florian, 2015;Min et al, 2021).…”

Quality of Graduates in the Post-covid Era as a Field of Convergence Between Southern Theory and the Idea of Social Justice Higher Education

“…The need for HE to be geared towards an affirmation of practitioners' agentiveness in social change has been emphasised in literature [39]. This need is felt in spite of HE courses across the world having an increased curricular emphasis on the ethics and a socially just outlook on such courses' outcomes [39, p. 220].…”

“…An individual having transactional freedom and resources to effect a change in his/her social transactions is also significant here. Such a freedom influencing an individual's engagement with others positively is often termed autonomy while a competency in scrutinising one's own actions is referred to as reflexivity, both being considered in the context of professional agentiveness [39]. These authors note that pedagogical emphasis on "scenario-based learning" can greatly promote social justice as a fundamental value in HE [39, p. 235].…”

Promoting cultural diversity and inclusion in undergraduate primary care education

“…The way faculty members communicate with and about individuals (patients, students and colleagues) from culturally diverse backgrounds can influence student perceptions [42], and good role-modelling promotes cultural awareness among learners [43,44]. However, faculty can often be ill-equipped and unsupported when navigating this complex area [14,45] and may have differing perceptions of their own role in these conversations and in bringing about change [24,46]. This may inadvertently contribute to a 'hidden curriculum' which risks portraying diversity messages that conflict with the formal curriculum [16,47].…”