“If You’re Not at the Table, You’re on the Menu”: Learning to Participate in Policy Advocacy as a Teacher Educator

ABSTRACT

Scholars have long urged teacher educators to engage in policy advocacy and to respond to mounting attacks on the teacher education field. Prior research has shown that teacher educators feel largely unprepared to participate in policy debates. This observation raises the question of how those who do engage in advocacy learn to navigate the contested terrain of teacher education policy. Drawing on a multiple case study research project, we argue that learning policy advocacy is a prolonged process, during which participants acquire the language used by policymakers and learn the procedures utilized by policymaking communities. This learning entails peripheral participation in policy processes, modeling, and mentoring. Our study sheds light on the importance of professional networks and relationships as support systems to expand teacher educators’ ability to participate in policy advocacy and reclaim their professional voice in policy debates.

KEYWORDS:

• Teacher educators
• teacher education policy
• policy advocacy
• sociocultural approaches to policy
• case study research

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank our participants for sharing their wisdom with us. This study would not have been possible without their generosity and kindness.

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Southeast Conference Faculty Travel Grant.

Notes on contributors

Elena Aydarova

Elena Aydarova, Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor of Social Foundations at Auburn University. Her interdisciplinary scholarship examines transformations in teaching and teacher education through the lens of equity, diversity, and social justice. Dr. Aydarova’s book “Teacher Education Reform as Political Theater: Russian Policy Dramas” (2019 with SUNY Press) examines the theatricality of teacher education reforms and calls on teacher educators to look for creative ways to engage in policy dialogs. She is a recipient of a National Academy of Education/Spencer Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship, American Fellowship from the American Association of University Women, the Concha Delgado Gaitan Presidential Fellowship from the Council of Anthropology and Education, and a Global Teacher Education Fellowship from the Longview Foundation. Dr. Aydarova brings an international perspective through her work as a teacher educator in the U.S., China, and the United Arab Emirates. ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0387-2889; Personal Website: https://elenaaydarova.com Twitter: @aydarova; LinkedIn: @aydarova

James Rigney

James Rigney is an Assistant Professor at State University of New York, Plattsburgh and a former classroom teacher of English Language Arts and Social Studies. His research interests include teacher professionalism, the history and practice of teacher inquiry, and teacher intellectual identity and agency. ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4676-2305

Nancy Fichtman Dana

Nancy Fichtman Dana, Ph.D. is currently a Professor of Education in the School of Teaching and Learning in the College of Education at the University of Florida. Her research in the field of teacher education focuses on teacher, teacher candidate, and administrator professional learning with a particular focus on practitioner inquiry. She has published 11 books and over 100 articles and book chapters on the topic. Throughout her career, she has worked extensively in supporting schools, districts and universities in implementing powerful programs of job-embedded professional development and initial teacher preparation through inquiry across the United States and in several countries, including China, South Korea, Belgium, Portugal, The Netherlands, Slovenia, and Estonia. ORCID iD: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7859-939X; Twitter: @NancyFDana; Personal Website: https://www.drnancydana.com