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Working with ethnoracially diverse student groups is a reality in most K-12 classrooms. However, studies of the impacts of professional development for cultural responsiveness have tended to use a range of approaches such as action research, video reflections, and coaching, making it difficult to tease apart the effects of each one. The purpose of this study was to focus on how action research, specifically, influences educators' culturally responsive practices. Participants found that the action research process promoted their agency to effect positive change in their schools, a key component of culturally responsive education. Although participants found it challenging to balance learning the nuances of action research and culturally responsive education simultaneously, they appreciated this as a productive struggle and adopted the same growth mindset for themselves that they encouraged in their students. Based on our results, action research appears to be a promising form of professional development for enhancing culturally responsive practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Much of the formal professional development teachers experience consists of short-term workshops that maintain – rather than disrupt – the systems of power that reproduce educational inequities. In response, some scholars have advocated critical professional development (PD) as a means of supporting teachers' interrogation of these inequities and empowerment to effect change. Critical PD is based on Paulo Freire's ideas of dialogue, problem-posing, and praxis, and it tends to emerge within grassroots organisations that function independently from the school systems. There are two drawbacks to this autonomous structure, however: the legitimacy problem, or the fact that the pedagogies advocated within these groups may be difficult to implement without the institutional support of participants' districts; and the resource problem, or the fact that teachers' time and efforts within these independent organisations is typically uncompensated. In this essay, we describe a research – practice partnership in which we co-developed critical PD on culturally responsive teaching with district leaders. The form of the PD, critical action research, allowed the participants to engage in problem-posing and praxis in order to analyse systems of power and their own positionalities within these systems. Recommendations for those with and without access to research – practice partnerships are offered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Teacher action research has been shown to both promote professional growth in teachers as well as produce gains for students. However, to date, little research has examined how action research might contribute to systemic changes in schools and school districts. This qualitative study of six teachers from various districts, subject areas, and grade levels, illustrates how action research can have simultaneous impacts on teachers, their students, and their schools and districts. The teacher action research projects all focused on culturally relevant education and the pursuit of equity. Impacts included teachers' deepened understandings of equity and inclusivity; students' diversity awareness, positive self-identities, and access to wider opportunities; and schools' adoption of equity-focused strategies. The findings suggest that action research on culturally relevant education serves not only as a powerful form of professional development but also as a means to potentially transform schools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While the conceptual work on critical pedagogy is undeniably rich, few empirical studies have examined its applications in K-12 classroom settings and impacts on students. Based on ethnographic research in 2 public 11th grade U.S. History classrooms with critical teachers, this article describes 3 pedagogies that enhanced students’ critical consciousness and agency to act on the world: naming, questioning, and demystification. These pedagogies emerged via dialogical relations between each teacher and her particular students, in 1 particular time and place. Thus, they are not presented as models to be applied elsewhere but rather as generative examples that educators can use to consider critical pedagogy in their own contexts. In addition, the study reveals how a standards-based U.S. History curriculum—constraining though it may be—can play a role in emancipatory pedagogy. Through centering instruction on students’ immediate social realities, but tying these to historical antecedents, including histories of oppression and resistance, the teachers empowered their students to name and question contemporary hegemonic forces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As classrooms become increasingly diverse and students need more complex skills for collaboratively addressing transnational issues, we need a better understanding of the factors that contribute to globally competent teaching. Education research has highlighted the benefits of study abroad and overseas teaching, as well as local cross-cultural immersion, but these options are not always feasible. We sought to identify the various means by which teachers develop global competence. Through this qualitative case study of 10 global educators, we found that international travel, though present in some instances, was not always necessary. In fact, it was an accumulation of experiences that prompted teachers to incorporate global perspectives, lessons, and skill development throughout their careers. Thus, globally competent teaching may be better conceptualized as a path, rather than as an end goal. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In this article, I examine the potential for developing preservice social studies teachers’ understanding of transformational resistance, Latin@ civil rights movements, and culturally sustaining pedagogy through a project using the film Precious Knowledge. This documentary depicts high school students in a Mexican American Studies (MAS) program using civil disobedience to protest Arizona’s ban of the program. The teachers prepared for the screening by reading and responding to scholarly articles on Latin@ school engagement and Chican@ student activism. After viewing the film and engaging in small group and whole class discussions, participants reported that they learned about current and past Chican@ student movements and gained an appreciation for the transformational potential of youth civic activism. The project serves as an example of how methods instructors could use school documentaries or other films as pedagogical tools, and more specifically it suggests readings and instructional activities to pair with such films. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]