Investigating social justice education through problem based learning: A subject area resource specialist’s perspective

Abstract

Teacher educators often encounter resistance when helping preservice teachers to investigate what different conceptions of social justice and anti-oppression education mean for their teaching and identities. What common conceptions are there? Why are they important? How might they be pursued? What are our own experiences with and responsibilities toward them? This chapter is written from the perspective of a subject area resource specialist responsible for helping preservice teachers think through these questions. It demonstrates the strengths of problem based learning (PBL) pedagogy in supporting preservice teachers’ inquiries into the institutional and cultural dimensions of privilege and oppression both in schools and beyond. In it, I first explore the role of the subject area resource specialist within the Teaching English Language Learners through Problem Based Learning (TELL through PBL) cohort structure. I then articulate the conceptions of social justice and anti-oppression that underpin my teaching and discuss why PBL is an excellent model for facilitating preservice teachers’ explorations of these concepts. Finally, I offer two detailed demonstrations of what my work exploring privilege and oppression with preservice teachers looks like.