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Within US teacher preparation programs, critical pedagogy and a desire for social change can lead teacher educators to prioritize transformation of prospective teachers' beliefs through self-reflection. In pursuit of effective critical pedagogies, teacher educators also need to examine their own practices and beliefs. This self-study, a manifestation of teaching as inquiry, reframes evaluations of teaching away from what students do toward what teachers do. Here I undertake a reflexive examination of my own recursive practice as a teacher educator in children's literature. Drawing upon a complex notion of teaching and learning, I argue that student learning outcomes are unpredictable, and as a result, successful teacher education should model self-inquiry as a vital part of teaching. Findings show that teaching choices (and omissions) in response to students' responses led to unintended outcomes that undermined my motivations. I conclude that teacher educators' self-inquiry and reflection in broader social contexts offers access to critical ways of thinking that underlie their work toward developing similar capacities among their prospective teacher students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This manuscript engages with the U.S. civil rights movement and offers reflections on how critical scholarship and pedagogy can benefit from a robust engagement with the African American freedom struggle. While widely studied in other disciplines and despite the work of some very committed geographers, the U.S. civil rights movement has enjoyed less critical scrutiny within the broader discipline. More specifically, I outline a set of broader concepts that can be utilized and which illustrate the power of grass-roots social movements to change oppressive social conditions. This has implications not only for social and cultural geography, but also for the ways we engage in the hard and often unrewarded work of classroom engagement and teaching. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

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The article explores feminist critiques of silence, personal voice and empowerment under the discourse of critical pedagogy. It is noted that in Western societies, critical pedagogy has developed a discourse which aims to empower a silenced minority to resist its hegemony, as well seek social justice and emancipation. She notes that historically, in the U.S. setting, educational attitudes and policies on immigrants have diverted its focus from seclusion to assimilation, to tolerance and towards embracing cultural diversities.