- Year 2022
- NSF Award #2050588
- Registration Co-PI
- First Name Carmen
- Last Name Tejeda-Delgado
- Discipline Biological Sciences, Engineering, Mathematics, Other: STEM
- Institution Texas A&M University - Corpus Christi
Abstract
The pedagogy surrounding Community Engaged Teacher Preparation is a three-pronged approach which results in a broader impact on Teacher Preparation and Social Equity (Zygmunt & Clark, 2017). First, community learning provides experiences with community members and mentors that allow contextual cognizance to unfold. The need for teacher preparation and professional development and educational leadership programs to inspire advocates and agents for social justice is greater today than ever. Community-engaged teacher preparation emphasizes the elevation of funds of knowledge and community cultural wealth. The power of community includes forging relationships between school district stakeholders, teacher candidates and key community members for teacher candidates to become agents of change in their communities by incorporating educational projects centered on transformation. Salient social equity themes are identified and included in class discussions and composition assignments. Perspectives regarding self-identity and of others are positively changed by using reflective, critical conversations and community walks, mentor luncheons and community council meetings with a planned social justice framework. A deeper measure of commitment is needed for the development of our future educators, which must include the broader community in intentional and active roles. Many teacher preparation programs consist of field experiences that rely primarily on content and pedagogical practices
