Learning to Teach for Social Justice: Measuring Change in the Beliefs of Teacher Candidates

• Published in: The New educator Vol. 4; no. 4; pp. 267 - 290
• Main Authors: Enterline, Sarah, Cochran-Smith, Marilyn, Ludlow, Larry H., Mitescu, Emilie
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Taylor & Francis Group 10.11.2008; Routledge
• Subjects: Candidates; Educational Trends; Graduates; Item Response Theory; Learning; Learning Processes; Measures (Individuals); Portfolios; Preservice Teacher Education; Professional training; Scores; Social Justice; Teacher Effectiveness; Teaching
• ISSN: 1547-688X; 1549-9243
• DOI: 10.1080/15476880802430361

This article speaks to two current trends in teacher education-the press to assess teacher education in terms of measurable outcomes, on one hand, and the growing emphasis on social justice as a theme of teacher education, on the other. The article begins with a discussion of the concept of teacher education for social justice. Then, using Rasch Item Response Theory techniques and analyses, the article shows that certain aspects of the complex construct, "learning to teach for social justice," can be measured reliably and validly across multiple groups of teacher candidates and graduates using a "Learning to Teach for Social Justice-Beliefs" (LTSJ-B) scale. This scale is part of a suite of teacher preparation surveys, which are in turn, part of a larger portfolio of qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods studies designed to explore the effects of teacher education and the process of learning to teach. The analyses presented here show that the LTSJ-B scale can detect changes in beliefs related to teaching for social justice over time and across cohorts of teacher candidates. Specifically, we show that the scores of cohorts of exiting teacher candidates far exceeded the scores of entering candidates. We also show that after one year of teaching, graduates of the program maintained these higher scores. The analyses in this article contribute to the argument that although "learning to teach for social justice" is a complex matter that requires complex measures, it can indeed be constructed as a legitimate outcome of teacher education and thus expand the larger agenda to make teacher education accountable for the quality of teachers it prepares.