Teacher education programs may encourage their students to reflect upon their own school experiences through critical perspectives to develop equitable pedagogical practices for a better society. However, what are the implications of using critical perspectives? The purpose of this theoretical paper is to examine assumptions of using critical transformative approaches in teacher education for equity by addressing the following question: What issues between teacher educators and their students need to be considered when using a critical transformative learning approach to develop equitable pedagogical practices in a North American context? By framing critical and transformative learning as working with difficult knowledge and cognitive dissonance, I argue that teacher education courses need to create spaces that foster authentic dialogues to move beyond psychologizing to critical awareness for equity in education.
BanksJ. A. (2001). Citizenship education and diversity: Implications for teacher education. Journal of Teacher Education, 52(1), 5–16.
8.
BourdieuP. (2004). Science of science and reflexivity. Cambridge, UK: Polity.
9.
BrookfieldS. D. (1987). Developing critical thinkers: Challenging adults to explore alternative ways of thinking and acting. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
10.
BrookfieldS.D. (2005). The power of critical theory: Liberating adult learning and teaching. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
11.
CliftR. T. (2009). Repurposing my professional practice: Learning from my students over time and place. Studying Teacher Education, 5(2), 129–141.
12.
CizekG. J. (1999) Narrative and neopragmatism in teacher education and research. In RathsJ. D. & McAninchA. C. (Eds.), What counts as knowledge in teacher education? (Vol. 5, pp. 47–68). Greenwich, CT: Information Age Publishing.
13.
Cochran-SmithM., & VillegasA.M. (2015). Framing teacher preparation research: An overview of the field, Part I. Journal of Teacher Education, 66(1), 7–20.
14.
Cochran-SmithM., VillegasA.M., AbramsL., Chavez-MorenoL., MillsT., & SternR. (2015). Framing teacher preparation research: An overview of the field, Part ii. Journal of Teacher Education, 66(2), 109–121.
15.
CooperR. (2005). Thought experiments. Metaphilosophy, 36, 328–347.
16.
CrantonP. (1994). Understanding and promoting transformative learning. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
17.
DalozL. (1999). Mentor: Guiding the journey of adult learners. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
18.
DaviesB., & BanselP. (2007). Neoliberalism and education. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 3, 247–259. https://doi.org/10.1080/09518390701281751.
19.
DaviesS., & GuppyN. (1997). Globalization and educational reforms in Anglo-American democracies. Comparative Education Review, 41(4), 435–459.
20.
DerridaJ. (1998). Monolingualism of the other: or, The prosthesis of origin (MensahP., Trans.). Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press. (Original work published in 1996)
21.
DeweyJ. (1933). How we think: A restatement of the relation of reflective thinking to the educative process. Boston, MA: D. C. Heath.
22.
DeweyJ. (1944). Democracy and education: An introduction to the philosophy of education. New York, NY: Macmillan.
DinkelmanT. (1999). Critical reflection in a social studies semester. Theory and Research in Social Education, 27(3), 329–357.
25.
FinnC. E.Jr. (2007). No remedy left behind: Lessons from a half-decade of nclb. Washington, D.C.: aei Press.
26.
FreireP. (2010). Pedagogy of the oppressed. New York, NY: Continuum Publishing Group Inc.
27.
GandalM., & Finn Jr., C.E. (1995). Teaching democracy. San Francisco, CA: Institute for Contemporary Studies.
28.
GombergP. (2016). Why distributive justice is impossible but contributive justice would work. Science & Society, 80 (80), 31–55.
29.
GolombekP. R., & JohnsonK. E. (2004). Narrative inquiry as a mediational space: Examining emotional and cognitive dissonance in second -language teachers’ development. Teachers and Teaching, 10(3), 307–327. https://doi.org/10.1080/1354060042000204388.
30.
GoodwinA.Lin (2009). Commentary: Remaking our teacher education history through self-study. Studying Teacher Education, 5(2), 143–146.
31.
GorskiP. C. (2009). Cognitive dissonance as a strategy in social justice teaching. Multicultural Education, 17(1), 54–57.
32.
GorskyP., & FinegoldM. (1994). The role of anomaly and of cognitive dissonance in restructuring students’ concepts of force. Instructional Science, 22, 75–90.
33.
GrantC., & SleeterC. (1989). Race, class, gender, exceptionality, and education reform. In BanksJ. A. & C. A. McGee Banks (Eds.), Multicultural education issues and perspectives (2nd ed., pp. 49-66). Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon.
34.
GunnA.M., BennetS., EvansL.S., PetersonB.J., & WelshJ.L. (2013). Autobiographies in pre-service teacher education: A snapshot tool for building a cultural responsive pedagogy. International Journal of Multicultural Education, 15(1), 1–20.
35.
HeY., & CooperJ. E. (2009). The abc s of pre-service teacher cultural competency development. Teaching and Teacher Education, 20(3), 305–322. https://doi.org/10.1080/10476210902943256.
36.
HirschE. D. (2009). Creating a curriculum for the American people: Our democracy depends on shared knowledge. American Educator. 38, 6–13.
37.
HooleyN. (2013). Exposing the intricacies of pre-service teacher education: Incorporating the insights of Freire and Bourdieu. Review of Education, 1(2), 125–158.
38.
HoustonS. E., & PrenticeA. (1992). Schooling and scholars in 19th century Ontario. Toronto, ON: University of Toronto Press.
39.
JorgensenE. R. (2015). Intersecting social justices and music education. In BenedictC., SchmidtP., SpruceG., & P. Woodford (Eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Social Justice in Music Education (pp. 7–27). Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
40.
KnightH. (2019). Imagining institutions of man: Constructions of the human in the foundations of Ontario public school curriculum. Curriculum Inquiry, 49(1), 90–109. https://doi.org/10.1080/03626784.2018.1552071.
41.
KornbergerM., & MantereS. (2020). Thought experiments and philosophy in organizational research. Organizational Theory, 1, 1–19. https://doi.org/10.1177/2631787720942524.
42.
LabareeD. F. (2005). Progressivism, schools and schools of education: An American romance. Paedagogica Historica, 41 (1&2), 275–288.
LynnM., & Smith-MaddoxR. (2007). Pre-service teacher inquiry: Creating a space to dialogue about becoming a social justice educator. Teaching and Teacher Education, 23, 94–105.
45.
MacDonald-VemicA., & PortelliJ. (2020). Performance power: The impact of neoliberalism on social justice educators’ ways of speaking about their educational practice. Critical Studies in Education, 61(3), 296–312.
46.
Mansvelder-LongayrouxD.D., BeijaardD., & VerloopN. (2007). The portfolio as a tool for stimulating reflection by student teachers. Teaching and Teacher Education, 23, 47–62.
47.
McAllisterJ. (1996). The evidential significance of thought experiments in science. Studies in History and Philosophy of Science, 27: 233–250.
48.
McDonaldN. (1978). Egerton Ryerson and the school as an agent of political socialization. In McDonaldN. & ChaitonA. (Eds.), Egerton Ryerson and his Times (pp. 81–107). Toronto, ON: Macmillan.
49.
McLarenM., & ArnoldJ. (2016). Transforming pedagogies: Encouraging pre-service teachers to engage the power of the arts in their approach to teaching and learning. Australian Journal of Teacher Education, 41(5), 20–35. https://dx.doi.org/10.14221/ajte.2016v41n5.2.
50.
MezirowJ. (1991). Transformative dimensions of adult learning. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
51.
MilloyJ. S. (1999). National A. Crime: The Canadian Government and the Residential School System, 1879 to 1986.Winnipeg, MB: University of Manitoba Press.
52.
MilneW. M. (2004). The use of reflective artmaking in pre-service education. Mentoring & Tutoring: Partnerships in Learning. 12(1), 37–52.
53.
NietoS. (2017). Re-imagining multicultural education: New visions, new possibilities. Multicultural Education Review, 9(1), 1–10. https://dx.doi.org/10.1080/2005615X.2016.
54.
NoddingsN. (1984). Caring: a feminine approach to ethics and moral education. BerkleyCA, University of California Press.
55.
PinkerS. (2018). Enlightenment now: The case for reason, science, humanism, and progress. London, UK: Penguin Books.
56.
PittA., & BritzmanD. (2003). Speculations on qualities of difficult knowledge in teaching and learning: An experiment in psychoanalytic research. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 16(6), 755–776.
57.
RawlsJ. (1971). A theory of justice. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
58.
RescherN. (2005). What if? Thought experimentation in philosophy. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers.
59.
RussellT., & LoughranJ. (2008). Self-study in the context of pre-service teacher education programs. Studying Teacher Education, 4(2), 93–94.
60.
SimonR. I. (2011a). A shock to thought: Curatorial judgment and the public exhibition of “difficult knowledge.” Memory Studies, 4(4), 432–449. https://doi.org/10.1177/1750698011398170.
61.
SimonR. I. (2011b). Afterword: The turn to pedagogy: A needed conversation on the practice of curating difficult knowledge. In LehrerE., MiltonC. E., & PattersonM. E. (Eds.), Curating difficult knowledge: Violent pasts in public places (pp. 193–209). New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan.
62.
SleeterC. (2008). Equity, democracy, and neoliberal assaults on teacher education. Teaching and Teacher Education, 24, 1947–1957.
63.
SleeterC., & GrantC. (1987). An analysis of multicultural research in the United States. Harvard Educational Review, 57(4), 421–445.
64.
SteinerR. L. (1980). Induced cognitive dissonance as a means of effecting changes in school-related attitudes. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 17(1), 39–45.
65.
StuartM. T., FehigeY., & BrownJ.R. (2017). Thought experiments: State of the art. In StuartM.T., FehigeY., & BrownJ.R. (Eds.), The Routledge Companion to Thought Experiments (p. 1-28). London, UK: Routledge.
UsherR., BryantI., & JohnstonR. (1997). Adult education and the postmodern challenge: Learning beyond the limits. New York, NY: Routledge.
69.
Van NulandS. (2011). Teacher education in Canada. Journal of Education for Teaching: International Research and Pedagogy, 37(4), 409–421. https://doi.org/10.1080/02607476.2011.611222.
70.
VegalA. (2019). Framing democratic proceduralism in education reform: No Child Left Behind and Common Core standards. Education Reform Journal, 4(2), 26–34.
71.
VgotskyL. S. (1978). Mind in society. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
72.
WhitleyJ., & HollweckT. (2020). Inclusion and equity in education: Current policy reform in Nova Scotia, Canada. Prospects, 49, 297–312. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11125-020-09503-z.
ZembylasM. (2014) Theorizing “difficult knowledge” in the aftermath of the “affective turn”: Implications for curriculum and pedagogy in handling traumatic representations. Curriculum Inquiry, 44(3), 390–412. https://doi.org/10.1111/curi.12051.
