Ramona Maile Cutri

The emotional work of discomfort and vulnerability in multicultural teacher education

This study documents our efforts to implement an ‘ethic of discomfort’ and a ‘pedagogy of discomfort’ in our undergraduate multicultural teacher education courses. Commitments to these moral imperatives inherently involve emotional work for teacher candidates and teacher educators. Such emotional work, particularly in academia, is often invisible and disincentivized. This study examines the following: (1) grappling with students’ emotional reactions that stem from discomfort, (2) engaging in public emotional discourses, (3) negotiating the political dimensions of teaching diverse students, and (4) remaining emotionally available to students as they work through these ideas in their own lives. The implications of this study address the types of preparation and support teacher educators need to facilitate the transformative potential of a pedagogy and an ethic of discomfort. While pre-service teacher education is considered a safe and productive learning space for students to be discomforted, questions are posed regarding the safety for pre-tenured teacher educators involved in this process. We offer a typology of emotional work from a teacher educator perspective in teaching multicultural education.

Poverty PhDs: Funds of knowledge, poverty, and professional identity in academia

In contrast to the common deficit approach, this self-study explores the relationship between the funds of knowledge possessed by people of poverty and their development of professional identity in academia. All three authors have moved beyond conditions of financial poverty, but all find that the mental conditions of poverty persist. We conclude that select skills and dispositions developed in conditions of material poverty helped us to navigate graduate school and continue to productively inform, yet complicate, the development of our professional academic identities. We tease apart the myth of meritocracy and identify the value of transferable funds of knowledge developed in poverty. We document how our own practices have changed as a result of recognizing our funds of knowledge developed in poverty.

Moral Dimensions of Bilingual Education.

Abstract The complexities involved in equitably educating language minority students raise ethical issues and involve the moral dimensions of teaching in a diverse democracy. Acknowledging the moral dimensions of bilingual education may encourage policy makers and practitioners to consider their ethical motivation and commitment to equitably educating all public education students. We use sociopolitical and legal perspectives to analyze the historical development of bilingual education policy in the United States and explore two arguments supporting the moral dimensions of bilingual education: (1) a morality based on economic and social interdependency and (2) a spiritual morality. We examine the potential and limitations of an economic and social morality and develop the construct of a spiritual morality as a means of harnessing the combined powers of intellect, emotions, politics, and spirituality in the fight to provide equitable education for language minority students.

Expressions of ethnic identity in pre-adolescent Latino students: implications for culturally relevant pedagogy

This study describes how 72 fifth-grade Latina/Latino students express their sense of belonging to their ethnic group. The purpose of this study is to help teachers gain specific understanding of the ways that pre-adolescent Latina/Latino students express belonging to their ethnic group, in order to become more effective at implementing culturally relevant and inclusive pedagogy. Students in this study spoke in concrete and descriptive ways about ethnic food, their language and their families when asked about the ‘ethnic things’ in their lives. Findings from this study underscore the importance of listening for expressions of ethnicity among pre-adolescents in order to better support ethnic identity development, as well as school and family connections, for ethnic minority students at the crucial age of transition.

Opening Spaces for Teacher Educator Knowledge in a Faculty Development Program on Blended Learning Course Development

Abstract Mandates for technology integration (TI) in teacher education courses continue to gain momentum. However, most teacher educators are not trained in the practices of instructional technology and, when mandated or strongly encouraged to do TI, they can face challenges and even crises of practice and identity. Like other teacher educators facing the seemingly inevitable advancement of TI in teacher education, we were excited, yet cautious, about a program for faculty development on blended learning course development (FDBL). This article reports the self-study of our experiences and the subsequent designing and offering of our courses in a blended learning format. We situate our systematic account of our practice within larger research considerations of how self-study of teacher education methodology can shed light on digital practices. This self-study provides a rich description of how teacher educators can integrate technology as a prolonged and iterative endeavor as opposed to a one-time project that does not fit in with their practice. Three major themes emerge from our study: (1) authentic pedagogical problems and content-area expertise, (2) learning theories and pedagogical beliefs, and (3) design iterations vs. summative evaluation. These three themes provide touchstones for teacher educators to consider when incorporating technology in their situated practice while remaining true to their content area and learning theory commitments. This self-study illustrates the ways in which the characteristics of self-study methodology actually facilitate teacher educators’ authentic engagement with TI.

Effective Writing Content Conferences in a Sixth Grade Classroom: A Cross-Case Analysis

ABSTRACT Conferencing gives teachers and students opportunities to discuss student writing and provide feedback in individual settings. Practitioner guides offer suggestions on how conferences can be conducted, but little is known about what types of interactions occur. Two case studies, including a cross-case analysis, were conducted to describe key components of effective conferences in one sixth grade classroom. Results showed that a structured and predictable pattern emerged in which students identified the purpose for the conference, examined a main issue of content with their teacher, and planned for the future. These students took ownership of their writing conferences by directing the conferences, maintaining a serious tone, and establishing a safe and positive atmosphere.