Critical Consciousness
Through the Eyes of Pre-service Teachers: Exploring Cultural and Racial Identity Development
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Tracy Pelkowski
The purpose of this mixed methods case study (n=12) was to investigate the perceptions and experiences of White Secondary Education Pre-Service Teachers (PSTs) with the development of their cultural and racial identities and their understandings of institutional inequities faced by persons of color in American school systems. Data collection took place during the first semester of PSTs education coursework in a course entitled, “Introduction to Race and Inequality in American Education.” Findings from Helm’s Racial Identity Attitude Scales (pre-and post-course), as well as qualitative analysis of student interviews and course documents, provide salient themes and examples as to how teacher educators can more effectively engage future teachers, most of whom have limited experiences with persons of color and little knowledge of institutional inequities, with the development of critical conscious. This is year one of a longitudinal study designed to investigate PSTs development as culturally responsive educators at a small Catholic liberal arts college.
Indigenizing and Decolonizing Study Abroad in Higher Education
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Kristine Dreaver Charles, Michael Cottrell
This contribution to the scholarship of teaching and learning in higher education emerged from the University of Saskatchewan, where indigenization and internationalization are leading institutional priorities. Rather than nested oppositions, here we consider possibilities for greater collaboration between these disciplinary and programmatic imperatives for mutual benefit. We explore the capacity of Study Abroad course design to synthesize Indigenous and Western pedagogies and methodologies to conceive innovative curriculum consistent with the negotiation of epistemological third spaces. In this presentation we document learning outcomes and assessment considerations that informed our efforts to bring decolonizing strategies to the design of a Study Abroad course. We also present a first iteration of a culturally respectful assessment framework based on an Indigenous Medicine Wheel model to evaluate student learning in Study Abroad within Higher Education.
Learning Chimamanda Ngozi’s "We Should All Be Feminists": English Teacher Education to Make a Social Difference
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Yeisil Pena
Both feminists Chimamanda Ngozi and Simone de Beauvoir, though temporarily and culturally distant, claim that an egalitarian society is possible by educating children on the stereotypes of gender roles. There is little space for critical discussion on gender roles in formal teacher education. However, in the case of TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language), there is an increasing interest in reshaping English teaching through an Intercultural, not only Communicative, Competence approach to deconstruct cultural stereotypes. I taught Chimamanda Ngozi’s We Should all Be Feminists to second year students of undergraduate TEFL programs in two private Universities in Santiago, Chile. This book is appropriate for B1 level students. Furthermore, the book is based on a TedTalk, so parts of the classes were reinforced using listening comprehension. Finally, the book helped them to understand what feminism is, addressing personal experiences. My experience shows that, if an egalitarian society is possible through education, teacher education can embrace social and gender difference through a critical understanding of culture and English language itself. From this perspective, language is relieved from homogenisation and uniformity, encouraging a critical understanding of power relations in society including feminism. My research draws on the work of Byram (1997), B. Kumaravadivelu (2007), Homi Bhabha (2012), and Kramsch, C. and Zhu, Ha (2016). This is an essential contribution to learning to make a social difference in Higher Education with a focus on EFL.
The Long Walk to School Principalship: The South African Rural Experiences of Secondary Schools Female Leaders
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Tshilidzi Netshitangani
This paper examines the career paths of six female secondary school principals in South Africa, Limpopo province. The qualitative study through document review, semi-structured interviews and observations investigated the factors accounting for these women’s advancement to leadership positions. Findings reveal that women advanced to leadership positions at a later age in the career path than their male counterparts. Moreover, they had to undergo various stages such as HODs and deputy-principalship before their final appointment as school principals. This long process could be seen as one of the contributing factors for under-representation of women in secondary school leadership. Leadership preparation programmes, which are offered to those already in middle management positions, should also be offered to all women educators to empower them. Further, In order to change the perceptions concerning women principals, leadership must be redefined to include feminist perspective so that the process of socialisation becomes broader.
