“That’s Much Easier Said than Done”: The Realities of Social Justice Pedagogy in Schools

Teaching for critical social justice is an attempt by classroom teachers to promote equity within their classrooms. Researchers have analyzed the impact of preservice teachers’ readiness to address social justice issues in their classrooms upon exiting their teacher education programs. However, despite reports of already practicing K-12 teachers’ attempts to teach for social justice in their classrooms, there is little connection to teacher education programs. This postcritical qualitative study addresses the research gap by highlighting the understandings and experiences of four intern teachers simultaneously enrolled in a teacher education program while participating in a critical social justice focus group. Findings from the critical social justice focus group revealed intern teachers’ understandings of critical social justice included: (1) embracing a critical awareness, (2) advocacy: “it’s about the students”, and (3) praxis defeat

Holding onto Dread and Hope: The Need for Critical Whiteness Studies in Education as Resistance in the Trump Era

The purpose of this article is to critically examine how white higher education instructors work through the tensions of dread and hope while supporting and preparing educators during the Trump Administration. Dread is a result of the permanence of racism while hope seeps through a collective effort and commitment to dismantling white supremacy. Aronson is racialized as a white, ethnically Latina female teacher educator who educates predominantly white female pre-service teachers and Ashlee is a white male doctoral candidate who teaches master’s level student affairs courses to predominantly white students. Using critical autoethnographic narratives, they reflect on their experiences using Critical Whiteness Studies (CWS) in the classroom. CWS provides a theoretical lens that can help both students and instructors to grow in their racial critical consciousness. The authors argue that through the tensions of dread and hope, white educators can find spaces for personal growth and reflection in teaching future educators

Learning to Teach in Diverse Schools: Two Approaches to Teacher Education

With this paper, we explore two approaches to teacher education, paying attention to how teachers are prepared to work in diverse school settings in a time of increasingly competitive neoliberal, market-based reform. These two approaches reflect completion of a traditional teacher education program and completion of Teach for America (TFA). The findings are based on two independent interview studies that are informed by the researchers’ joint commitments to postcritical ethnography, which consider issues associated with positionality, reflexivity, objectivity, and representation. The first interview study engaged teachers who graduated from a traditional teacher education program, as well as two participants with a more specialized urban focus. Interview questions asked teachers to describe their implementation of culturally relevant pedagogy in their classrooms and how prepared they were to do so. The second study addressed the experiences of TFA alumni as they matriculated through the program, with special emphasis being paid to the support that each corps member received during and immediately following their tenure

Developing an Angled Perspective as Teacher Educators: Using Narrative Reflection to Disrupt the Funding of Identity in Teacher Education

Building capacity in teachers to teach students skillfully and respectfully across the diversity gap is complex work that requires teachers to learn to see with what we term as angled perspective. If an angled perspective is learnable, then it is teachable. Using our narratives as religiously and ethnically diverse women teacher educators, we share through our own learning and growth, how this type of analysis can contribute to coalitional building for teacher education, and thus K-12 teachers. Through our conceptualization of identity theory, positionality, and intersectionality, we argue angled perspectives contribute to solidarity work in education. We share implications for teacher educators to integrate angled perspectives into curricula across teacher preparation courses

The Intersection of White Supremacy and the Education Industrial Complex: An Analysis of #BlackLivesMatter and the Criminalization of People with Disabilities

In this article, in answering the question do Black Lives Matter in the U.S. education industrial complex, we begin with a description of how the education industrial serves white supremacy. In our discussion of anti-blackness and racial bias, we also acknowledge the racialization of disabilities and the historical intersections between racial oppression and the marginalization of people with disabilities. More specifically, we examine the discourse and reticence about markers of differences (e.g., race, gender, ability status, race, and class) and interrogate how social categorizations are manipulated and co-opted to repurpose differences in ways that serve the education industrial complex and the prison industrial complex. Finally, we discuss how the discourse about the value of the lives of Charles Kinsey, a service provider who is Black, and Arnaldo Rio Soto, an adult with disabilities who is Hispanic, underscores the role that the education industrial complex plays in perpetuating racism, ableism, and the disposability of Black, Brown, and disabled bodies

The Social Justice Teaching Collaborative: A Collective Turn Towards Critical Teacher Education

In this article, we share the collaborative curricular work of an interdisciplinary Social Justice Teaching Collaborative (SJTC) from a PWI university. Members of the SJTC worked strategically to center social justice across required courses pre-service teachers are required to take: Introduction to Education, Sociocultural Studies in Education, and Inclusive Education. We share our conceptualization of social justice and guiding theoretical frameworks that have shaped our pedagogy and curriculum. These frameworks include democratic education, critical pedagogy, critical race theory, critical whiteness studies, critical disability studies, and feminist and intersectionality theory. We then detail changes made across courses including examples of readings and assignments. Finally, we conclude by offering reflections, challenges, and lessons learned for collaborative work within teacher education and educational leadership.&nbsp

Pre-service Teachers as Curriculum Makers: What Could Social Justice Look Like in a Middle School Curriculum?

In this article, we answer the questions 1) What could social justice look like in the middle school curriculum; 2) How do we help young adolescents recognize and repudiate racism and other forms of social injustice; and 3) What are some lessons learned from a middle level teacher preparation with a focus on social justice ? By presenting three examples of social justice curriculum created by pre-service teachers in their teacher leadership education course, we argue for spaces that allow pre-service teachers to be curriculum-makers if we are truly seeking social justice educators in schools. We conclude, through the perspective of the pre-service teachers, effective practices they believe should be a part of teacher preparation that focus on social justice education

Effects of Instrument Assisted Soft-Tissue Mobilization on Dynamic Balance in Those with Chronic Ankle Instability

Our objective was to examine the effectiveness of IASTM application to the FL on dynamic balance in individuals with CAI. Fifteen individuals (seven females, eight males, age = 26.07 ± 9.18 years, mass = 87.33 ± 24.07 kg, height = 178.83 ± 12.83 cm) with CAI, as determined by the Ankle Instability Instrument (AII) volunteered to participate. Participants completed two counterbalanced sessions (experimental and control), and we recorded measurements at two time points (pre- and post-). The application of IASTM to the FL muscle was carried out using Técnica Gavilán® instruments for 90 s during the intervention, and participants sat for 2 min during the control session. Dynamic balance was assessed using the Y-balance test (YBT). The interaction between session and time for anterior reach was significant (F1,14 = 5.26, p = 0.04, η2 = 0.27). Post-hoc tests revealed farther reach distances at post-test (71.02 ± 9.45 cm) compared to pre-test (66.57 ± 10.87 cm) when IASTM was applied (p = 0.02, Mean Difference = 4.45 cm, CI95 = 0.71–8.19 cm, Cohen’s d = 0.44). The interaction between session and time was not significant for posteromedial (F1,14 = 0.25, p = 0.62, η2 = 0.02, 1 − β = 0.08) or posterolateral reaches (F1,14 = 1.17, p = 0.30, η2 = 0.08, 1 − β = 0.17). The application of IASTM to the FL improved anterior reach of the YBT, but not posterolateral or posteromedial reaches in individuals with CAI. However, the 4.45 cm increase in anterior reach could have clinical implications for improved function

PROGRAMME DESCRIPTION: A required course in leadership, entrepreneurship, and administration in pharmacy

Context: Worldwide, there is growing interest in equipping pharmacy graduates with the requisite skills to assume responsibilities related to management and leadership in the profession. To meet this need, the required course “Leadership, Entrepreneurship, and Administration in Pharmacy” is provided as a culminating experience for pharmacy students. Description of course: In this course, students learn concepts related to management, leadership, and entrepreneurship and complete assignments including financial statement exercises, human resources management simulations, personal leadership development plans, and business plan projects with professional poster presentations. The course in its current form has been offered four times to 541 students. Evaluation: Student evaluations (n=214) show the course is well-received and provides opportunities to develop knowledge and skills not covered previously. As the pharmacy profession is constantly evolving, students need a strong foundation in management, leadership, and entrepreneurship. Sharing experiences from this course will aid faculty at other institutions wanting to include similar topics in their curriculum