Commitment to change: The role of political clarity among three beginning urban activist teachers.

摘要

This qualitative study examines the life history narratives of three beginning urban activist teachers. The overarching question that guided the research was: How do life histories and early teaching experiences shape beginning urban activist teachers identities and visions of teaching for social change?; Several significant findings emerged from the data. One important finding is that the teachers brought "political clarity" (Bartolome, 1994; Beauboeuf-Lafontant, 2002) to their work and it was this political clarity that shaped their teaching commitments and practices. Integral to the teachers political clarity was that all (1) All had meaningful experiences in and with urban communities and urban schools prior to their teaching jobs; (2) All had significant personal schooling experiences that shaped their ideas/visions about the purposes, practices and possibilities of schools and schooling; and (3) All had positive naming (Rodriguez, 2001) as part of life experience. Findings also show that caring relationships and innovative pedagogical and curricular practices were at the core of the teachers' politically relevant teaching practices. Implications for teacher education programs, urban K--12 schools, and educational policy are detailed.