How do we recruit strong and diverse teachers who are committed to teaching in complex, underfunded schools? How do we prepare them, both in terms of their skills and mindsets, to feel responsible for reaching and teaching all of the learners in their classrooms? And how do we prepare them to be capable and confident enough that they feel…

No other dehumanizing social construct has negatively impacted the realities and lived experiences of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) in North America more than racism. Teacher Preparation Programs (TPPs) are not exempt from this truth. Although there are many allies working both outside and within TPPs to ensure curricula,…

Early childhood teacher preparation programs offer a curriculum that centers the White normative perspective (i.e., devoid of diverse perspectives). Because the young children and families that these teachers will work with are representative of the U.S. demographic, it is important that these programs consider alternate ways of preparing their…

With the advent of COVID-19 and classes moving online, future educators of Color (FEoC) in teacher education programs are susceptible to the same disparities in outcomes and retention that college students of Color experience. As a teacher educator of Color, I drew from "abolitionist teaching," "restorative practices," and…

The familiar figure of the teacher, alone in front of a classroom and enclosed by four walls, pervades what is possible in teacher education. What if we could decentre anthropocentric teaching practices and 'become teachers together' with other human and nonhuman teachers? Could a garden become a teacher? A plant? A spider? This article engages…

This article provides concrete critical and ethical responses to dominant educational policies promoting the teaching of STEM fields. Recognizing how dominant discourses of modernity (Martusewicz, et al. 2015) work discursively to constitute STEM, this paper examines and exposes how STEM education is prioritized via funding in teacher education.…

The growing population of immigrant youth in the United States includes both documented and undocumented young people, as well as those who live in mixed status families in which some family members are authorized and at least one other family member is not (Suárez-Orozco, et al., 2011). These young people find themselves residing at the center of…

This article describes the author's experience as President of the California Council on Teacher Education (CCTE) from 2004-2006, which began under difficult conditions due to her daughter's terminal illness. The author shares her story of how the organization supported her during this difficult time, which she feels is representative of the…

In 2005, a group of faculty who work in the field of teacher education and are invested in social justice formed a group to examine how teacher preparation programs address (or often do not address) LGBTQ lives and issues. Concern about the invisibility of LGBTQ people, movements in education, and a commitment to changing the current state of…