MaxedOutMama

At the State University of New York at Oneonta, prospective teachers must “provide evidence of their understanding of social justice in teaching activities, journals, and portfolios. . . and identify social action as the most advanced level.”

The program at the University of Kansas expects students to be “more global than national and concerned with ideals such as world peace, social justice, respect for diversity and preservation of the environment.”

The University of Vermont’s department envisions creating “a more humane and just society, free from oppression, that fosters respect for ethnic and cultural diversity.”

Marquette’s program “has a commitment to social justice in schools and society,” producing teachers who will use the classroom “to transcend the negative effects of the dominant culture.”

One: “Because democracy requires a substantive concern for equity, the faculty of the School of Education is committed, in theory and practice, to social justice . . . We believe that an education centered on social justice prepares the highest quality of future teachers . . . We recognize the challenges we face in preparing educators to be advocates for those on the margins of society . . . Given the historical roots of injustice, we are committed to helping practitioners see the vast possibilities of moving toward an equitable and just world knowing that ‘extreme inequalities in matters of race, gender and class often survive on the implicit understanding that there is no alternative’ . . . Our teacher candidates and other school personnel are prepared to demonstrate a knowledge of, language for, and the ability to create educational environments based on various theories of social justice.”

Two: Candidates “are assessed on the conceptual framework themes of diversity and social justice, themes that emphasizes the need for candidates to be knowledgeable about, sensitive to and responsive to issues of diversity and social justice as these influence curriculum and pedagogy, school culture, relationships with colleagues and members of the school community, and candidates’ analysis of student work and behavior.” A pilot of the school’s dispositions evaluation form with 159 initial candidates and 155 advanced candidates “showed that our initial candidates met or exceeded expectations on average with respect to at least 88% of the 8 dispositions, and advanced candidates met or exceeded expectations on at least 83% of the dispositions.”

“Unit assessments must also reflect the dispositions identified in its conceptual framework and in professional and state standards. ... For example, if the unit has described its vision for teacher preparation as ‘Teachers as agents of change’ and has indicated that a commitment to social justice is one disposition it expects of teachers who can become agents of change, then it is expected that unit assessments include some measure of a candidate’s commitment to social justice.”