White Pre-Service Teachers’ Perceptions and their Development of Culturally Relevant Literacy Practices

Existent literature purports that providing White teacher candidates with increased exposure to urban schools in order to create culturally competent educators has failed. These findings reflect the notion that teacher ideologies and overall perspectives about working with diverse student groups must be harnessed in a genuine ethic of care and intentionality for students of color. However, few studies have taken the approach of examining the development of culturally relevant pedagogy through context-specific field experiences using content-specific courses. This study examines the perspectives of twenty-five White pre-service teachers from a predominately White, private university regarding their initial perceptions and gained conceptual understanding of culturally relevant pedagogy while teaching reading at an urban middle school. Findings were consistent with previous literature that White pre-service teachers are more interested and comfortable teaching in suburban and private schools and held implicit about teaching in urban schools. However, through the course and urban field experience, pre-service teachers were able to develop teaching behaviors that were deemed culturally relevant(Ladson-Billings, 1995) for teaching reading, and were better prepared to work with students from diverse backgrounds

Being Triggered as Faculty of Color: Reflections on Teaching Diversity during the Trump Era

Much has been written about the Black academic’s experiences of teaching in predominately White spaces. However, less has been shared about being triggered, especially when teaching during the time of the Trump administration. This essay discusses an email encounter with a White female student who was enrolled in a graduate diversity issues course. As articulated in her email response, after declining an informal conferencing opportunity with the instructor, the student critiqued the tenets of the course because of her own conceptions of Whiteness. Many of the comments made were similar to the onslaught of hate-speech and racial bias and intimidation that was propagated by the Trump administration. After providing context for the course, statements from the response email will be contextualized in conjunction with trending national news, executive orders, and existent literature on race-based perspectives

White Pre-Service Teachers’ Perceptions and their Development of Culturally Relevant Literacy Practices

Existent literature purports that providing White teacher candidates with increased exposure to urban schools in order to create culturally competent educators has failed. These findings reflect the notion that teacher ideologies and overall perspectives about working with diverse student groups must be harnessed in a genuine ethic of care and intentionality for students of color. However, few studies have taken the approach of examining the development of culturally relevant pedagogy through context-specific field experiences using content-specific courses. This study examines the perspectives of twenty-five White pre-service teachers from a predominately White, private university regarding their initial perceptions and gained conceptual understanding of culturally relevant pedagogy while teaching reading at an urban middle school. Findings were consistent with previous literature that White pre-service teachers are more interested and comfortable teaching in suburban and private schools and held implicit about teaching in urban schools. However, through the course and urban field experience, pre-service teachers were able to develop teaching behaviors that were deemed culturally relevant(Ladson-Billings, 1995) for teaching reading, and were better prepared to work with students from diverse backgrounds

Black Lives Still Matter: Freedom Schools as an Embodiment of Critical Literacy Through Reflection and Action

The continuation of racial inequities in the United States has ignited the recent Black Lives Matter Movement, a protest of police brutality and gun violence. Black lives matter in public school classrooms, too—where students of color face barriers to equitable educational experiences. The Children\u27s Defense Fund Freedom School program is a major component in developing critical literacy skills through critique, inquiry, and transformation through social justice and action. Critical literacy is enacted through identity—mainly as difference, self, consciousness, narrative, and positionality. Historical and contemporary relevance of Freedom Schools connects to the urgency of the Black Lives Matter Movement

The Emerging Scholars Issue: Insights on Teaching and Leading through Reshaping Policy and Practice

The Emerging Scholars program began at the 2019 Texas-NAME conference with five graduate students, four of which were enrolled in a doctoral program. Students participated in preconference workshops on establishing a research agenda, understanding academia and higher education institutions, and creating a network as an education researcher. Since its inception, the program has continued introducing students to collaborations and publication opportunities through Texas-NAME. This special issue provides doctoral students (some of whom have since graduated) with an opportunity to be single-authors in their scholar. Organized in three distinct sections, readers will be exposed to research and policy briefs and critical reflections that center on the experiences of difference to provide educational access, equity, and opportunity to historically minoritized populations

Rap Music Literacy: A Case Study of Millennial Audience Reception to Rap Lyrics Depicting Independent Women

Using a feminist lens and a constructivist approach as the theoretical framework, we used rap lyrics and videos to help college students explore mass media’s representation of the “independent” Black woman and the concept of “independence” in general. Students must be able to formulate their own concept of independence to counteract the messages and stereotypes they receive in popular culture through advertisements, film, print and music. The authors found that independence is situationally defined and it is a complex concept that is differentiated in consideration of age, race, and gender. Participants noted that rap music has the potential to influence their definitions and perceptions of rap music. More educational opportunities are needed where students can utilize constructivist pedagogies in order to become more critically aware of the influence of the media and systems of social stratification

The Emerging Scholars Issue: Continuous Learning Through a Personal and Professional Lens

The Emerging Scholars program offers ongoing mentoring, personalized feedback, and opportunities for individual and collaborative scholarly development. Participants are encouraged to present at the Texas-NAME annual conference and publish their research in the Journal of Multicultural Affairs\u27 special issue for Emerging Scholars. The publication process is supportive, beginning with mentorship and discussions on manuscript organization. Peer review involves the mentor, a contributing author, and previous emerging scholars as reviewers, fostering a collaborative environment that promotes learning and idea development. The issue\u27s topics revolve around challenges faced by students of color, exploring issues such as out-of-school suspensions, the impact of COVID-19 on education, Indigenous knowledge, rural education policy, cultural gaps, class start times, and critical race theory in schools. Authors delved into topics of personal interest and experiences that influenced their research, all with the common goal of improving educational equality. The special issue serves as a platform for scholars to grow and collaborate, fostering efforts towards positive change in the academic landscape for every student\u27s benefit