Initial teacher education and social justice

This chapter aims to provoke discussion and debate about initial teacher education and social justice. We begin with an exploration of ITE in the current moment. Global trends in the preparation of future teachers provide a sense of what is achievable or not in terms of providing preservice teachers with a curriculum that has a focus on social justice. We then outline some theories of social justice and debates within the educational field with which we think preservice teachers need to engage. We then demonstrate how some of these theories inform classroom practices. Following this, we explore some of the contextual factors that affect teachers’ abilities to make a difference in the classroom and key social justice debates with which teachers as professionals need to be concerned. We also recognize that teacher education as a field needs to consider the ways in which potential teachers are treated justly. The last section of the chapter details what all these considerations might mean for the ways in which teacher education programs are organized and how preservice teachers are supported in these programs. While our focus is on social justice, we cannot ignore the impact of teacher practices and teacher education on social injustices.

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