The purpose of this study is to examine how preservice teachers' teaching stances were affected by critical-consciousness raising experiences in relation to ability, class, sexual identity, gender identity, and race. Seventeen preservice teachers, enrolled in a 10-week required secondary teacher education course, volunteered to participate in the study. During the course, data were gathered by conducting in-class observations and collecting written assignments focused on teaching stances and written responses regarding the critical-consciousness raising course experiences. Furthermore, 11 of the 17 participants were asked to participate in individual interviews for a more in-depth exploration of their teaching stances. Ultimately, data from six participants---Belle, Esperanza, John, Rand, Ulrich, and Serenity, were selected for this dissertation.; Issues of race and issues of sexual identity were most salient for the participants. With respect to race, participant's' teaching stances range from resisting new knowledges to understanding race in terms of power, privilege, and oppression. Sexual identity, however, was most challenging for the participants. Though as teachers, five participants articulated tolerance and one articulated acceptance for students who may be lesbian, gay, or bisexual, most did not envision incorporating sexual identity issues in their future classrooms.; The six participants, Belle, Esperanza, John, Rand, Ulrich, and Serenity, were chosen for this story during data analysis and interpretation, as they represent three ways that I understand how their teaching stances were affected by course experiences. I use ocean waves as a metaphor representing the course experiences to make sense of how preservice teachers negotiate their prior beliefs, attitudes, and values regarding race and sexual identity, their reflections on the course experiences, and their evolving teaching stances. I believe that Belle and Rand are most comfortable standing on the shore, not wanting to be affected by the waves. John and Ulrich are wading knee-deep into the water, struggling with prior beliefs and new knowledges. Esperanza and Serenity entered the course already able to catch some of the ways, though they both struggle with their teaching stances in relation to issues of sexual identity.; This study suggests that more work is needed when preparing preservice teachers. Teacher education programs must embody the notion of antioppressive teaching stances. First, by focusing on antioppressive teaching stances, teacher education programs need to infuse issues of social justice into the curricula. Second, teacher educators must understand issues of social justice and develop their own beliefs and antioppressive teaching stances. They must also be able to facilitate preservice teachers' reflections and learning towards social justice praxis. Third, we must incorporate field experiences that provide spaces for preservice teachers to think about antioppressive teaching stances in relation to classroom teaching so that they may envision antioppressive teaching stances as manifested through pedagogy rooted in social justice. Finally, we must bridge preservice teachers' experiences from teacher preparation to novice teaching in order to help support and sustain their evolving antioppressive teaching stances.
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