Teaching and Teacher Education 28 (2012) 485e492

Contents lists available at SciVerse ScienceDirect

Teaching and Teacher Education

Review

Equity and social justice in teaching and teacher educationq

a b s t r a c t
Keywords: This essay presents a review on the theme of equity and social justice in teaching and teacher education
Social justice based on articles published in TATE since its inception. It is a part of an initiative started by the current
Educational equity
editors of TATE to “encourage us all to look backward to deepen our understandings of how earlier
Teacher education
Diversity
research has shaped our current research and the ways we can see the reverberations across the
Inclusive education temporal span” (Clandinin & Hamilton, 2011, P. 2).
Teachers’ beliefs The selected articles (1) represent the work of researchers from several countries and different
Multicultural education backgrounds across the years; (2) reflect the range of “differences” that constitute the “minorities,
margins and misfits” in the educational “mainstream”(Currie, 2006); and (3) extend the inquiry beyond
the extant work along some dimension, and grapple with the complexity of issues related to in/equity
and social justice. The main themes that the authors have focused on include: understanding the nature
and significance of educational inequities and the systemic practices and individual beliefs that,
historically and currently, sustain these within and across different contexts. Their overarching concern is
with preparing teachers and creating contexts to effect real change towards attaining a vision of a more
just education and society.
Ó 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

One of the many difficulties with ensuring educational equity in been eroded of late with the rise of neo-liberal ideologies that now
the creation of ‘schools for all’ relates to the preparation of dominate the educational discourse the world over (Apple, 2001;
teachers to meet the challenges of teaching in schools that are Freeman-Moir & Scott, 2007). The attendant ascendency of stan-
increasingly diverse. dardized performance measures in schools, increased surveillance,
Florian, 2009, P. 533 control of curricula, and emphasis on efficiency, outcomes and skills
in teacher education has profound effects on defining what counts
Becoming an effective teacher requires more than developing as responsive or effective teaching, seriously undermining the
socio-political awareness and teaching skills, and understanding educational responses to issues of equity and social justice (Sleeter,
how children learn and develop. Moving from theory to practice 2008; Zeichner, 2010).
also requires the courage to create schools that look very These concerns are discernible in the articles published in
different from those we have now. Teaching and Teacher Education (TATE). The number of articles that
Kugelmass, 2000, P. 193 explicitly deal with issues of equity and/or social justice has been
on the increase in the last five to ten years. Thus a Scopus search
Much is being written about arguably the biggest challenge
yields over 300 articles relevant to these themes. However,
facing today’s teachers and teacher educators: how could schools be
meanings and categories are historically and contextually con-
made to work effectively and equitably for all learners in ever more
structed. The terminology often undergoes nominal change with
diverse classrooms. The long cherished promise of a better, more
time even when the substantive content might be relatively stable.
free and more just society through increasingly inclusive public
Therefore I decided to ‘leaf through’ the content pages of all the
education, albeit largely elusive, engaged educational imagination
issues of TATE. Online access allowed me to browse through the
through much of the twentieth century. This vision, however, has
abstracts at the same time. For days and weeks, I engaged in this
wondrous task, imagining myself stationed in a library’s well-
q This review also serves as the Editorial for the Teaching and Teacher Education
stocked journal section with light streaming through tall
Virtual Special Issue on Equity and Social Justice, available online at: http://www.
windows, not unlike the fantastic library at Northwestern Univer-
journals.elsevier.com/teaching-and-teacher-education/virtual-special-issues/
virtual-special-issue-on-equity-and-social-justice/. sity overlooking Lake Michigan where I spent innumerable joyous
E-mail address: [email protected]. hours several decades ago.

0742-051X/$ e see front matter Ó 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.tate.2012.01.012
486 B. Kaur / Teaching and Teacher Education 28 (2012) 485e492

The result was, first, a reassurance to myself that I had searched exemplify the kinds of issues addressed in this review, though it
as carefully as possible for all related articles before beginning the may be noted that most articles are usually concerned with more
rather arduous task of selection. I started by making a long list of than one set of questions.
over 130 articles that seemed relevant. The list was then parsed
into seven partially overlapping categories: Culturally responsive
What is the nature of the problem and why is it significant? What
pedagogy, multicultural education in practice, anti-racist educa- systemic factors, historically and currently, sustain the inequities
tion/differential treatment, inclusive education, teacher beliefs/ within and across different contexts?
attitudes/conceptions, overarching/macro perspectives, and arti-
What beliefs/attitudes/perceptions do experienced and prospec-
cles with explicit emphasis on social justice and/or equity in their tive teachers (teacher educators and supervision mentors, as well)
titles and/or key terms. The number was whittled down through bring to their work? How do these reflect and shape their own
reading and re-reading of the articles to twenty, with additional 8 identities and working lives? How can teacher beliefs be assessed/
that could provide the broader context. This ‘short list’ was almost accessed? How stable are such beliefs?
triple the size of the expected list. Further reading and re-reading,
How can teacher educators go about preparing teachers who
highlighting of main points, and attending to the location and time might be able and confident to effect real change towards attaining
of the research undertaken helped in curtailing it to a manageable a vision of a more just education, and eventually, society?
size. Still, many of the articles from the short list not included in the
review below will get mentioned where appropriate. 1. Cazden, C. B. Differential treatment in New Zealand:
Second, this exercise reminded me that TATE has a wealth of reflections on research in minority education, 1990, 6(4),
information, significant lacunas notwithstanding, on the pressing 291e303
issues that bedevil teaching and teacher education currently, and
that there is much to learn from its contents from years gone by, “Differential treatment” refers to unequal opportunities for
well beyond the review that I have crafted below. I hope that this participation in schools, of Ma ori children in this case, due to
review will entice the readers to explore further the treasure-trove structural issues such as tracking or subtle differences in responses
of provocative ideas that is TATE. to children’s participation by teachers.1 For Cazden, it is not a neutral
The articles that I have decided to include in this review (1) term, since it “suggests the special responsibility of educators -
represent the work of researchers from several countries and teachers, and those above them who shape the contexts within
different backgrounds across the years (although the bulk of content which children and teachers work” (P. 292). She makes the case that
for TATE continues to emanate from the USA); (2) reflect the range of classroom talk or teacher student interactions is an “important site
“differences” that constitute the “minorities, margins and misfits” in of inequalities”. Cazden, draws on observational studies done by
the educational “mainstream”(Currie, 2006); (3) extend the inquiry Marie Clay, a Pakeha researcher and one of her M aori students, Alice
beyond the extant work along some dimension, and grapple with Kerin, in New Entrant classrooms to document the subtle differences
the complexity of issues related to in/equity and social justice. in teacherestudent interactions.2 Teachers, particularly Pa keha

Teaching and teacher education for social justice and equity is teachers, invited non-Ma ori children more frequently to elaborate
a moral and political undertaking. In addition to a fundamental their thoughts or answers than Ma ori children. The finding was
concern for creating rich learning opportunities for all children, it confirmed in different classrooms and different semesters, despite
entails engaging learners in critical thinking, caring about them and within teacher and among teacher variation.
fostering relationships with them and their families and commu- In the wake of this research, Cazden undertook short-term in-
nities, getting to know their lives inside and outside the classroom, service work with teachers in collaboration with a Ma ori colleague,
valuing and building on the experiences they bring with them into Marie-Anne Selkirk and in consultation with local Ma ori, despite
the classroom by making learning meaningful to their lives, noticing concerns about her ‘outsider status’ among many M aori. This seems
and challenging inequities and injustices that prevail in education to have coloured how she worked and reported her work with
and society, understanding and interrogating teachers’ own posi- teachers. The largely Pa keha  teachers were encouraged to become
tioning, beliefs and attitudes and their role in sustaining the status aware of their own responses to some topics that might be more
quo, and at individual and/or collective levels working with and for familiar to or have different meanings for M aori children, and to bear
diverse learners to advocate for a more just and more equitable life in mind that Ma ori valued collaboration more than individualization
chances for all students, to imagine and work for a more just society. and respectful silence more than fast paced replies to adult ques-
This is not an exhaustive list by any count, but for me it captures the tioning. Further, in line with what I consider the ‘cautious tone’ of
essence of what it means to teach for social justice and equity. It also her work and the article, they were to be mindful of “the additional
signifies that all attempts at ‘meeting the needs of diverse learners’ influences e at a higher level of nested contexts e of the composi-
are not necessarily informed by similar ideological positions, and tion of the school staff” (P. 299). This last point was meant to reflect
further, that it is not an easy or simple task to effect the far-reaching the vociferous Ma ori concern about the necessity of acknowledging
changes at individual or systemic levels that are needed for such the significance of the historic injustices suffered by Ma ori for over
a transformative agenda of teacher education. a century at the hands of the Pa keh a settlers. The caution is also
The articles in TATE mirror the on-going struggles for a better apparent in her statement that although the “default position” for
understanding of why and how does the extant situation vis-à-vis differential treatment is “institutional or structural racism”, these
diverse learner populations prevail and sustain at various levels in terms were not used while working with the teachers.
teaching and teacher education, and what, if anything, can be done However, there was little uptake of her suggestions among
about it? The articles are arranged in a chronological order, without teachers or Ma ori educators as noticed by her on a subsequent visit
any claim to a linear progression, to indicate the subtly changing
nature of the language used and the concerns that have occupied
researchers across time. Often a review is followed by additional
1
Maori are the indigenous peoples of New Zealand/Aotearoa.
comments about other article/s that might be substantively related
2
P
akeh ori term for New Zealanders of European descent. They came
a is the Ma
to New Zealand as immigrants, mostly from the UK, and now constitute the
to the reviewed article. These comments are not chronological. I majority and the economically and politically dominant group in New Zealand. New
hope that the logic of such an arrangement will aid the reading of Entrants refers to five year olds beginning school, on or immediately after their fifth
the review instead of detracting from it. The following questions birthdays.
 B. Kaur / Teaching and Teacher Education 28 (2012) 485e492 487

to New Zealand a couple of years later. Cazden reflects on the social justice in education at the core of teacher reforms. However,
reasons for this situation. First, the ‘problem’ of differential treat- they fell short on “substantive discourse on and specific proposals
ment in classroom talk had been identified by ‘outsiders’, not by the for reforming teacher education with regard to effective schooling
teachers. Further, the larger political scene in New Zealand vis-à-vis for diverse student populations” (P. 323). She continues, “Other
Maori and ‘Crown’ relationship was charged over Treaty settle- than calling for the recruitment and education of more “minority”
ments for land, calls for Ma ori self-determination, and Ma ori teachers, neither The Holmes group (1986) report nor that of the
language and culture revitalization that occupied the Ma ori lead- Carnegie Task Force on Teaching (1986) give more than lip service
ership in education and elsewhere in the late 1980s and early 1990s to the challenges of preparing teachers to meet the needs of the
leaving little space for what would have seemed like an insignifi- diverse populations of children enrolled in U.S. schools” (P. 324).
cant issue in comparison from their perspective.3 Second, the idea The later reports from The Holmes group (1990, 1991), she
that teachers would do well to focus on ethnic differences in new contends, did a better job of challenging teachers to “work against
ways could increase the unwelcome risk of strengthening the the fundamental grain of unequal society” and “to build on
racial/ethnic stereotypes. Third, there was the problem of teachers learners’ existing cultural capital”. Yet, there was no discussion of
not knowing how best to make use of the information that they “teachers working for change of an unjust social and economic
might have about children’s home cultures. system with students or of teachers assisting students in becoming
All these issues are relevant today and continue to engage change agents themselves” (P. 324, Emphasis in original). She
researchers in the field of education for indigenous peoples within laments the lack of a vision or a coordinated approach to the issues
New Zealand and elsewhere. TATE has several articles that update of equity and justice in these reports.
us about the current lay of the land, for instance, see Te Kotahitanga: While the education policy agenda vis-à-vis equity and justice at
Addressing educational disparities facing Ma ori students in New best made ambiguous recommendations for practice, Gomez goes
Zealand (Bishop, Berryman, Cavanagh, & Teddy, 2009). on to discuss research on several initiatives in teacher education
While the tone might partly be a response to the somewhat programs that aimed “to interrupt, challenge and change the way
precarious position of a ‘cultural outsider’ in which Cazden, a US teachers think about themselves and ‘Others’” (P. 325). The studies
scholar, found herself faced with criticism from some Ma ori, it is attempted to document and understand the changing perspectives
also reflective of the hesitant tone and the obscure manner in of students enrolled in a set of coordinated courses, single courses
which issues such as institutional racism or systemic injustices and/or fieldwork experiences specifically designed to prepare
were often written about in other articles of that time. teachers for diverse learners, with mixed results. A significant
finding from the studies taken together was that “changing teachers’
perspectives on diverse “Others” is a long and labor-intensive
2. Gomez, M. L. Teacher education reform and prospective process” (P. 326). A lot depends on the attitudes and understand-
teachers’ perspectives on teaching “other people’s” children, ings and the existing moral commitments the prospective teachers
1994, 10(3), 319e334 bring into their teacher education programs. Some field experiences
were reportedly more effective. “Among the most promising prac-
Gomez is concerned with highlighting “how the race, social class, tices for challenging and changing preservice teachers’ perspectives
sexual preferences, and language backgrounds of prospective was their placement in situations where they became the “Other”
teachers affects their attitudes towards “Others,” their willingness to and were simultaneously engaged in seminars or other ongoing
live near and be part of communities with “Others,” to teach conversations guiding their self-inquiry and reflection” (P.329).
“Others,” and to expect that “Others” can learn” (P. 320e321). She Gomez concludes with a comment on the complexities of such work.
summarizes findings from a number of surveys and large-scale “No single activity e whether it be reading case studies; conducting
studies undertaken in the USA on the prospective and novice community service; living with, tutoring, or practice teaching with
teachers’ perspectives towards diverse learners to make the point people unlike oneself; telling stories of one’s teaching; reading about
that the existing mismatch, between the homogenous teacher and listening to “Others” stories; participating in seminars accom-
population e White, middle-class, English speaking, mostly female, panying practica or student teaching; or being an “Other” oneself e
and their students e “Other people’s children”, is highly problematic. is adequate for preparation for teaching “Other” people’s children”
Most prospective teachers were neither expecting to teach children (P. 331). Further, “To date, no reform report on teacher education nor
from different backgrounds than their own, nor were they being any teacher education program has adequately addressed the
prepared to do so in their teacher education programs, although they complexity and the urgency of the challenges that lie before us in
agreed that equity in education was important. For instance, in one educating all of our children” (P. 332).
of the studies, “the teachers voiced concerns about equity and Gomez outlines the diversity related challenges facing teachers
justice, but they were uncertain about how to operationalize these and teacher education, takes a critical look at the reports and
concerns in the classroom. They often saw diversity as a problem for papers purported to find a way forward and finds them lacking, and
schools and teachers” (P. 322). Thus, the extant situation strongly presents a candid account of the difficulties of preparing teachers
pointed to the possibility that teachers’ beliefs and perspectives, who can think and act afresh about “difference” than what they
informed by their own backgrounds, could re-inscribe stereotypes might have grown up with. She does so in the spirit of looking for
and perpetuate the social and historical inequities. alternatives and exploring options, taking “the traveler’s inquiry
After outlining the problem that establishes the need for stance” and acknowledging the inherent uncertainties in
a radical re-think of teacher education, Gomez turns to review the a complicated task like teacher education for diversity (Phillion &
then current calls for teacher reform in the USA. She argues that Connelly, 2004).
most of them began with the importance of placing equity and Smolkin and Suina (1999) extended the idea of placing the
prospective teachers into a situation where they became the
“Other” and found it to be an effective strategy for teacher educa-
3
Treaty of Waitangi, signed in 1840 between various Ma ori iwi (tribes) and the
tion for culturally diverse students. They employed Martin Buber’s
British Crown, was meant to signify an equal partnership between Ma ori and the
Crown. However, it was seldom upheld by the Crown and has been a site of
notion of ‘IeYou’ to conceptualize a relationship of ‘complete
constant struggle, conflict and tension. In recent decades it has been used effec- mutuality’ an equal other between the mainstream and the
tively by Maori to seek redress of some of the historic injustices. minority pre-service students. They paired two pre-service
488 B. Kaur / Teaching and Teacher Education 28 (2012) 485e492

students, one each from American Indian and non-Indian back- In terms of the relationships between various aspects of school
grounds, who completed dual field placements as a pair e one term organizational culture and teachers’ attitudes towards multicul-
in a school under the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and the second in an turalism, the study yielded mixed results. Citing Cockrell, Placier,
urban setting. Each placement put the insider member of the pair Cockrell, and Middleton (1999), they recommend that interven-
into a position of an expert or authority to assist the “Other”. tions purporting to change teacher beliefs about diversity might be
more effective if they “aimed at changing the school’s approach
3. Horenczyk, G., & Tatar, M. Teachers’ attitudes towards from one of cultural transmitter to one of a cultural mediator and
multiculturalism and their perceptions of the school ultimately to one of a cultural transformer” (P. 443). A limitation of
organizational culture, 2002, 18(4), 435e445 the study, as noted by the authors, is the lack of an independent
measure of the school culture. All the data were drawn from
Horenczyk and Tatar broaden the investigation of teacher atti- teachers’ self-reports. Further, they point out that some of their
tudes towards multiculturalism by looking into how these might measures, particularly School Scenarios, might have been some-
reflect and be shaped by the norms and values of larger societal and what ambiguous in terms of their meanings for pluralistic versus
institutional settings such as “the organizational culture” of assimilationist attitudes. The authors seem to use “perspectives”
a school. “An organizational culture is the characteristic spirit and and “concrete aspects” interchangeably, which I found confusing.
belief of an organization, reflected in the norms and values that A recent article from Germany makes a useful distinction
regulate the ways according to which people treat one another and between two positive beliefs towards immigration: Multicultural
the nature of the working relationships” (P. 436). Their basic beliefs, that “stress accommodating and respecting students’
premise is that the “organizational culture of a school should be backgrounds”, and Egalitarian beliefs, that “emphasize similarities
a central focus in our quest to understand teachers’ attitudes and and equal treatment of all students” (Hachfeld, Hahn, Schroeder,
behaviors vis-à-vis diverse student populations” (P. 436). Anders, Stanat, & Kunter, 2011). Although both these beliefs are
The authors outline the history of policies towards immigrants favourable, they are likely to have different implications for how
in the context of Israel’s commitment to the “in-gathering of exiles” teachers with multicultural or egalitarian beliefs might respond to
whereby initially the immigrants were “expected to leave behind cultural diversity. The Teacher Cultural Beliefs Scale, developed by
much of their cultural baggage, and to adopt the “Israeli way of life”, these researchers, indicated that teachers holding both these
rhetorically portrayed as the new blend just produced in the beliefs “shared a motivation to control prejudiced reactions, but
cultural ‘melting pot’ ” (P. 437). Thus, historically the policy was one they differed in their views on acculturation, prejudices, and
of assimilation. The newcomers, by the late twentieth century, authoritarianism” (P. 986). As noted by them, their work does not
came largely from the former Soviet Union. The policy by then had focus on how different beliefs are formed and how these can get
moved from strong assimilation to include “ethnic addition”. translated into useful practice. Thus, they recommend qualitative
Education was expected to allow for some ethnic expression while studies to compliment their effort.
“absorbing” the new immigrants into the Israeli ways of being. Another recent article reports on a qualitative study of six
However, the educational practice, in the absence of clear guidance teachers from Singapore, who seemed to evince self-awareness and
on how to achieve such a balance, often fell to its default position of openness to diversity without challenging unfair practices and
assimilation. As a consequence, the authors contend, that the Israeli assumptions of meritocracy prevalent in Singapore schools and
society was more pluralistic than its schools. They set out to society (Alviar-Martin & Ho, 2011). It seems to me that the
investigate whether teachers would “endorse more favorable atti- distinction the German researchers make between the two
tudes towards multiculturalism when relating to immigrants’ favourable attitudes, along with a tool to assess these, might help
immersion in society in general as compared to the integration of clarify the reasons for why a teacher with a ‘positive’ attitude
newcomers into the educational system” (P. 438), and how these towards diverse learners might not act to alleviate the injustices
attitudes might be related to their institution’s organizational that s/he may notice particularly in a societal context where
culture. assumptions of meritocracy are taken-for-granted.
A questionnaire to assess “Pluralistic” and “Assimilationist”
attitudes for society and for school was constructed based on 4. Athanases, S. Z., & Martin, K. Learning to advocate for
adaptations of “the Multicultural Ideology Scale and the Tolerance educational equity in a teacher credential program, 2006,
Scale, both developed by Berry and Kalin (1998)”. In addition, 22(6), 627e646
teachers’ “perceptions of multiculturalism at three levels of orga-
nizational school culture: perspectives, values and basic assump- Athanases and Martin draw on a 5-year study of a pre-service
tions” were assessed using “school scenarios, school multiculturalist program in the USA that explicitly aimed to prepare teachers to
values, and school basic assumptions regarding immigrants, advocate for educational equity. “The program claims to develop
respectively” (P. 439). In all 442 secondary and primary school four teacher roles. The primary role is to advocate for educational
teachers from 34 schools participated in the study. A 2  2  2 mixed equity; documents boast a focus on addressing inequities of
design MANOVA was employed to find that context did indeed schooling and society, especially in culturally and linguistically
matter. “When asked about the integration of immigrants in school, diverse communities. Three other roles support the advocate role:
the attitudes emerge as highly assimilationist, whereas attitudes reflective practitioner, collaborator, and researcher on one’s prac-
dealing with the insertion of the newcomers in the wider society are tice.” (P. 630). The authors, who were not directly involved with the
predominantly pluralistic” (P. 441). The authors interpret this program at the time, conducted five focus groups, each with 5e10
finding as reflecting the disparity between the multicultural rhet- former graduates (N ¼ 38) and lasting about 3 h. Focused and open-
oric or an acceptance of non-discriminatory policies in general, and ended questions based on previously conducted survey and other
the difficulties of their translation into practice in concrete settings data from the larger project guided the focus group discussions.
like schools. Although teachers in this study seemed to espouse “Supported by program artifacts as prompts and with careful
pluralistic attitudes to some extent, many “still appear to view moderation, the focus group stimulated thought and recall of
education as the primary means for transforming the immigrant events” (P. 642). The researchers sought information on the specific
into an “Israeli”, and the school as the most appropriate setting to strengths and problems of the program in preparing teachers for
attain this goal” (P. 442). their work of advocacy.
 B. Kaur / Teaching and Teacher Education 28 (2012) 485e492 489

The two-year teacher education program for equity took and systemic features that perpetuate inequalities and help main-
student learning as its starting point through a focus on equity tain the status quo. Milner’s concern, without romanticizing or
pedagogy. It aimed to develop in prospective teachers a disposition sanitizing the realities, is with successful teachers working within
to oppose inequity, to question the taken-for-granted ways of these much maligned educational spaces. He argues that,
doing and knowing, to understand “how social, economic, and “successful teachers in urban schools envision life beyond their
political forces shape access and achievement patterns for students present situations; come to know themselves culturally, linguisti-
as well as how school structures can reinforce and reduce ineq- cally, gendered, racially, economically, and socially in relation to
uities” (P. 628). It meant that teachers must monitor their inter- others; speak possibility and not destruction both inside and
actions with students for “fairness and cultural sensitivity”, and outside of the classroom regarding their students; care and
know “how to examine what is in schools and how to determine or demonstrate that care; and change their negative, deficit, coun-
imagine what could be” (P. 628, emphasis in original), and how to terproductive thinking in order to change their actions in the
move from imagination to action with commitment and appro- classroom with students” (P. 1574).
priate knowledge and skills. The basic assumptions were enacted He uses as analytical tools the notion of narrative in teaching
through a program that deliberately ensured “coherence and and research (Clandinin & Connelly, 1996), “as the study of the
integration across course work, fieldwork placements and ideol- stories that people come to experience, live, represent, and tell in
ogy”. These were reinforced through every aspect of the experi- the world and in the classroom” (P. 1576) and the notion of counter-
ence by faculty, tutors and supervisors who modelled and lived the narrative informed by critical race theory, that “provides a space for
ways of caring teaching that they expected prospective teachers to researchers to share teachers’ experiences in ways that have not
adopt in their work. The students also benefitted from on-going necessarily been told” (P. 1576), and “to disrupt or to interrupt
cohort-based discussions in the first year, and extended and pervasive discourses that may paint communities and people of
carefully mentored placements in culturally and linguistically color in grim, dismal ways” (P. 1577, emphasis in original).
diverse settings in the second. The article draws on a larger project carried out over two
The findings were encouraging, with majority of the teachers academic years in one school, “known in the district as one of the
feeling well prepared for their role as teachers of culturally and “better” middle schools in the urban area”. Bridge Middle school
linguistically diverse learners who in most cases were willing to catered to a large number of students from lower socio-economic
advocate for their students in and beyond the classroom. They background. About 60% of the students and 45% of the teachers
made explicit links between various aspects of their training and were African American. The three teachers whose counter-
their work, giving specific examples of how the program had narratives he presents were two African Americans (one female
influenced their practice. However, as one of the teachers reported, with 35 years of experience, one male with 7 years as a teacher in
a program expecting teachers to work within the framework of that school) and one relatively new White male (3 years). Milner,
advocacy for equity puts extraordinary demands on the new himself an African American and an experienced secondary school
teachers. Further, comments from one of the teachers pointed to teacher, speaks of his own position, “I was telling my own story as
the need for a closer monitoring of the potential for continued much as I was telling the stories of the participants” (P. 1577). The
marginalization of historically disenfranchised groups within the three teachers used very different approaches to make connections
teacher education program itself. It is unclear from the article as to with their students and to provide students with what they needed
how and how much emphasis was placed on student teachers to succeed. The counter-narratives create vivid images of their
confronting their own prejudices and beliefs. pedagogical and curricular decisions as well as their approaches to
In another article, Lynn and Smith-Maddox (2007), two African understanding and negotiating power within and beyond the
American researchers working with largely White teachers, report classroom in order to enter the worlds of their students.
on one aspect of a teacher education program that utilized Dewey’s Milner’s own counter-narrative is summed up in his conclusion.
notion of Inquiry “as an approach to engage pre-service teachers in “Urban education and the people who occupy urban schools often
critical reflection about their practice” (P. 96). The participating fight against structural and systemic forces that can make it difficult
student teachers were asked to engage in “a dialogical process of to succeed. Yet, they persist, persevere, succeed, and remain both
reflection where they would identify and name the problems most hopeful and optimistic in spite of difficulty beyond their control.
pressing to them (P. 99)” such as, defining socially just and unjust They remain, as do I, critical of current social, historic, economic,
teaching, and ability grouping and tracking. The authors argue for and political ills and also optimistic and hopeful about the trans-
the importance of such a learning space in teacher education to formational change that can emerge when we refuse to be defea-
facilitate honest and open discussion about difficult issues. ted” (P. 1597).
However, they also concede that, “inquiry is not a panacea”. They André Grace (2006) takes an autobiographical approach to
cite Gay (2000) that, “social justice teachers need to be able to more link the personal and the pedagogical “to engender deliberations
than just “talk” about social justice.” Further, they regret that they about queer positionality, presence, representation and place in
shied away from exploring the “messiness of racial and ethnic education” (P. 826). His stance is similar to that adopted by
identity and its relationship to the development of a social justice Milner, though he is interested in sexuality instead of ‘race’ class
practice” (P. 104). or culture as a site of discrimination and struggle. He has initi-
ated a focus group, Agape, at his university in Canada to grapple
5. Milner IV, H. R. Disrupting deficit notions of difference: with the question, “How do I as a teacher educator bring issues of
counter-narratives of teachers and community in urban queer visibility, recognition, respect, access and accommodation
education, 2008, 24(6), 1573e1598 to the fore in my everyday work?” (P. 830). He frames his auto-
biographical writing as cultural and political work aimed at
Milner presents “counter-narratives” of three successful transformation of education. “I argue that any story of the queer
teachers in an urban school in the southeastern region of the USA. self ought to motivate critical questioning of experience as part of
He argues that the common portrayal of urban schools inheres in an engagement in which deliberators consider how queer
a deficit discourse e often describing their students, families and subjects are constituted and why heteronormativity remains
communities “as ‘disadvantaged’, ‘marginalized’, ‘oppressed’ and entrenched as the unquestioned centre against which all sex,
‘at risk’” while paying little attention to the structural, institutional sexual and gender differences are judged” (P. 833).
490 B. Kaur / Teaching and Teacher Education 28 (2012) 485e492

6. Florian, L., & Rouse, M. The inclusive practice project in outlines a “project that is beginning to engage directly with the
Scotland: teacher education for inclusive education, 2009, relationship between the content of teacher education courses and
25(4), 594e601 educational equity. The reform of initial teacher education is a first
step in this direction.” (P. 600e601).
Florian and Rouse focus on yet another dimension of difference
that often gets constructed as deficiency. In Scotland, the preferred 7. Garii, B., & Rule, A. C. Integrating social justice with
term for ‘children with special needs’ or ‘children with disabilities’ mathematics and science: an analysis of student teacher
is ‘children with additional support needs’. All of these terms lessons, 2009, 25(3), 490e499
construe some children as different and therefore in need of
additional or special supports or interventions, provided in the Garii and Rule are concerned with a topic that has not caught
name of educational equity. They argue that, “the emphasis on the attention of many researchers published in TATE. They argue
studying human differences has perpetuated a belief that human that the issue of effectively integrating social justice pedagogy
differences are predictive of difficulties in learning” (P. 595), instead with science and mathematics content can seem like an over-
of being seen and accepted as a normal variation in human whelming task for new or student teachers. These teachers,
condition. After presenting a critique of ‘diagnostic-prescriptive’ especially at elementary level, may not be confident in their ability
notions that underpin common practices in intervention and ability to teach science or mathematics and they may not be very familiar
grouping, the authors argue that educational as well as social with social justice strategies. The traditional purpose of school as
inclusion is necessary for achieving success and equity for all. Their transmitter of knowledge is also at odds with transformative
argument is not confined to those children usually seen to have agenda of social justice education, as are the conventional ways of
disabilities or special needs based on assessed or presumed ability. teaching of mathematics and science or of conceptualizing their
Instead, they are concerned with inclusive education that is content. Thus, despite student teachers’ awareness of the impor-
cognizant, as well, of “the exclusionary pressures associated with tance of social justice in education and the enormous potential of
migration, mobility, language, ethnicity and intergenerational viewing issues of marginalization and oppression through math-
poverty” (P. 595). Hence their plea is to raise awareness of the inter- ematical or scientific lenses, “inclusion of social justice within
sectionalities of various kinds of ‘differences’ as well as their primary and secondary mathematics curriculum is in its infancy”
contextualized manifestations. (P. 491).
Florian and Rouse are of the view that inflexible pedagogies, The authors undertook a content analysis of lessons prepared by
irrelevant curricula, inappropriate assessment regimes, insensi- student teachers in their final semester and presented as posters at
tivity to the situated realities of students’ lives, and inadequate a “Social Justice Conference”, a twice-yearly event in their teacher
teacher education, all collude to act as barriers to learning and education program at a rural state college in the USA. All students
participation. After outlining recent reform efforts in Scottish submitted their posters and additional documentation describing
education, they turn to sketch the salient features and basic and reflecting on the preparation of the lesson. Of the total of 197
premises of the Inclusive Practice Project (IPP) at the University of posters, 26 were in the areas of science and mathematics, 10 from
Aberdeen. The IPP concept, they argue, is “similar to the architec- teachers for elementary, and 16 from those for secondary grades.
tural concept of ‘universal design’ that focuses on not creating These formed the database for the present article. The analysis
physical and other environmental barriers in the first place, but suggested that most student teachers struggled to fully and effec-
rather anticipating solutions that will improve access for everyone” tively integrate social justice and academic content. Often one or
(P. 598). The task of educators is not to deny or ignore human the other got neglected even at secondary level though those
differences, but to “challenge complacency about what is ‘generally teachers, unlike their counterparts at the elementary level, were
available’. It is argued that extending what is ‘generally available’ content area specialists. Garii and Rule conclude by recommending
reduces the need to provide support that is ‘different from’ or a need for deeper knowledge of content, modelling of the expected
‘additional to’ that which is otherwise available.” (P. 598). integration by teacher educators in methods courses, and oppor-
Thus the IPP takes individual differences as a central concept of tunities for practice under more support and guidance. The
human development, a part of the human condition rather than conceptualization of the difficulties of integrating social justice
a marker of deficiency and it rejects the deterministic notions of with science and mathematics remain simplistic, as do the solu-
fixed ability. The program espouses a socio-cultural view on tions suggested by Garii and Rule. However, the topic of their
learning, which affords an interactive and dynamic conceptuali- research is worth persevering.
zation of learning and learners. Teacher takes responsibility for
teaching all children. Specialist interventions are called upon to 8. Farnsworth, V. Conceptualizing identity, learning and
assist the teacher to teach effectively instead of teacher relin- social justice in community-based learning, 2010, 26(7),
quishing his/her responsibility for ‘hard to teach’ children. Further, 1481e1489
recognizing that it might be a tall order to expect novice teachers to
individually take on the task of challenging entrenched school Farnworth’s main concern is to understand ways in which
practices, the IPP focuses “on collaborative ways of working with community-based learning (CBL) and the interface between iden-
and through others”. In view of the Scottish practice of government tity and ideology contribute to the development of a social justice
allotted practice settings for prospective teachers, and the con- teacher identity. She puts to work Gee’s (1999) notion of identity as
tested meanings of inclusive practice, the IPP undertakes to prepare enacted through Discourses and Bakhtin’s (1981) idea of dialogue
the students to “acquire a critical view of practice without criti- as a negotiation of “voices” to make them “internally persuasive” in
cizing the practice they experience” (P. 599). Thus, students are order to understand how “pre-service teachers shape their identi-
helped to think pedagogically about what is good practice, how to ties through participating in community events”. Two research
include rather than exclude a child having difficulties, and why questions are addressed: 1) “What identities are implied in the
a student might not benefit from a particular strategy instead of stories they tell about their teaching and community-based
concluding that the problem lies with the student. The IPP was too learning experiences?” and 2) “What do their narratives of expe-
new at the time of the writing for the authors to report on its rience and expressed identities tell us about ways of learning to
implementation or outcomes, but in the words of the authors, it become a social justice teacher?” (P. 1482).
 B. Kaur / Teaching and Teacher Education 28 (2012) 485e492 491

“The study entailed a thematic analysis of multiple data sources dimensions of ‘difference’ and locations and time periods of the
which aimed to capture three dimensions: personal accounts of studies as well as the affiliations of research participants including
schooling, local context (i.e., school, community and university), and the group affinity affiliations of the researchers, wherever the latter
teacher training practices (with a particular focus on CBL)” (P. 1483). were apparent.
Four student teachers participated in the study undertaken in the Cultural/racial difference as a site of discrimination and ineq-
UK. Interview data on three of them, one male and two female, all uities was the most common theme, and thus, more thoroughly
White, were used for discourse analysis presented in this article. investigated and theorized, relatively speaking. Researchers con-
Farnsworth discerned two dominant Discourses of teacher identity cerned with inclusive practices have begun to use social justice and
that the student teachers drew on: the “academic” and the equity framework more frequently to interrogate the discourses
“community” Discourses. “Sam’s [a female participant] expressed that construct difference and disadvantage as disability and defi-
commitment to disadvantaged schools was framed in terms of ciency. Similar trend was discernible in the investigation of sexu-
providing students with quality academic experiences whereas Pat- ality and sexual orientation in education. Attention towards the
rick framed his social justice teacher identity in relation to what I significance of investigating the inter-sectionalities of differences,
associate with notions of social and community activism” (P. 1484, a promising direction to pursue, is beginning to emerge. However,
emphasis added). Ways of approaching CBL would differ for teachers it is important to note that since most of the studies emanate from
favouring different Discourses. However, as the author cautions, North America or Europe, the concerns of equity and social justice
each runs the risk of potentially working against the intended goals that are raised in TATE articles and the meanings or salience that
of CBL. The “academic” Discourse could set up expectations of expert these ideas might have in this part of the world do not represent
status, thus, constraining opportunities for critical reflection or for adequately the issues that the rest of the world might be struggling
learning from the community. The “community” Discourse could with. For instance, there was only one article in my long list that
readily slip “into “helperism” that perpetuates structurally defined engaged with gender inequities (from Turkey), yet this continues to
power relations and hinders social justice” (P. 1485). The challenge be a major concern in much of Southeast Asia and the Middle East.
for teacher education is to find ways to support students to negotiate A majority of researchers used a qualitative approach to inves-
such pitfalls through critical reflection and inner dialogue. tigate the issues of interest to them, with most of them drawing on
Farnsworth then goes on to utilize Gee’s four ways of viewing the notion of narrative explicitly or implicitly. This approach
identity to analyze student teachers’ engagement in CBL through the continues to yield rich insights, though at times I felt that
notion of “identity-in-practice, or ways of thinking about the self researchers could benefit from fuller engagement and a deeper
when engaged in an activity” (P. 1485). Her main point is that understanding of the framework. A few researchers, more often
D-Identity or Discourse Identity mediates learning in CBL in particular from regions other than North America, handled their subject
ways. D-Identity is an identity performance that draws on an indi- matter quantitatively. The openness to diversity fundamental in
vidual characteristic, like one of the teachers being a careful listener, social justice and equity teacher education, when applied to modes
or that “emphasizes how one acts and interacts with others”. of inquiry in this area, can help advance our understandings and
However, engaging with D-Identity in CBL does not automatically provide conceptual clarifications through a considered and
translate one’s learning to one’s social justice practice. In order to complimentary use of the two approaches.
understand under what conditions translation from an identity view In sum, I think that despite critiques from different ideological
to a social justice practice might eventuate, she uses Fraser’s (1997) positions and ambiguities in our understandings about equity and
matrix of social justice. Two kinds of approaches to social justice social justice, there seems to be a move towards creating more
are articulated e affirmative and transformative. Farnsworth comprehensive teacher education programs with explicit focus on
contends that it is the latter that is needed to address systemic equity and social justice, presence of more diverse critical voices in
inequities. “In terms of social justice teacher identities, approaches research and teaching, and increased interest in the inter-
which affirm diversity and cultural responsiveness need to be refor- sectionalities of differences and their contextualized manifesta-
mulated to be more deconstructive and address the deep structure of tions. If my reading is correct, then we can hope that through our
‘relations of recognition’” (P. 1487). D-Identity, in her analysis, has the enhanced critical understandings we might gather enough
potential to support dialogic negotiations of Discourses. As she “courage to create schools that look very different from those we
argues, this “dialogic approach means engaging with and confronting have now” (Kugelmass, 2000), so that social justice does not remain
inner contradictions rather than privileging one or the other. This a mere slogan in teacher education (Zeichner, 2010).
conceptualization of identity development as dialogic parallels
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