Preparing and Sustaining Social Justice Educators

Preparing and Sustaining Social Justice Educators spotlights the challenging and necessary work of fostering social justice in schools. Integral to this work are the teachers and school leaders who enact the principles of social justice--racial equity, cultural inclusivity, and identity acceptance--daily in their classrooms. This volume makes the case that high-quality public education relies on the recruitment, professional development, and retention of educators ready to navigate complex systemic and structural inequities to best serve vulnerable student populations. Annamarie Francois and Karen Hunter Quartz, along with contributing scholars and practitioners, illustrate how professional learning collaborations promote diverse, antiracist, and socially responsible learning communities. Case studies at three university-partnered K-12 schools in Los Angeles demonstrate the benefits of these professional alliances and practices. Francois and Quartz acknowledge the difficulty of the social justice educator's task, a challenge heightened by a K-12 teacher shortage, an undersupplied teacher pipeline, and school closures. Yet they keep their sights set on a just and equitable future, and in this work they give educators the tools to build such a future. "For the last 30 years, UCLA's Center X has been a beacon in preparing educators to teach and lead in culturally responsive and sustaining ways, especially in working-class, urban communities of color. This important book provides a valuable history of this inspirational body of work from the perspectives and stories of both university and school partners. It should be required reading for every aspiring and current teacher and leader educator." --Ken Zeichner, Boeing Professor of Teacher Education Emeritus, University of Washington Annamarie Francois is the executive director of Center X and a faculty member in the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Graduate School of Education and Information Studies. Karen Hunter Quartz directs the Center for Community Schooling and is a faculty member in the UCLA Graduate School of Education and Information Studies. Contributors Melissa S. Arias Heather F. Clark Carla Estes Megan L. Franke Leyda Garcia Ben Gertner Emma Hipólito Jo Ann Isken Lynn Kim-John Carrie Usui Johnson Orlando Johnson Jarod Kawasaki Queena Kim Jon Kovach Ung-Sang Lee Imelda L. Nava Jeannie Oakes Tonikiaa Orange Nancy Parachini Jaime J. Park Leticia Perez Jody Z. Priselac John Rogers William A. Sandoval Marisa Saunders Christine Shen