Teacher Professional Development for Ethnic Studies: A Critical Youth-Centered Approach

Abstract

In this article, we discuss a partnership with a district-wide Ethnic Studies (ES) program, the Ethnic Studies Professional Development (ESPD) project, through which we designed and led a year-long teacher professional development series for middle and high school ES teachers in one school district. We describe the context of the ESPD project, our vision for a critical youth-centered professional development experience, how this vision aligns with scholarship on ES content and pedagogy, and how we operationalized this vision through key choices we made about the scope and sequence of the year. We conclude with a summary of what was accomplished, the project’s next steps, and implications for teacher-educators.

Notes

1 Not able to coauthor due to confidentiality measures stated in our IRB protocol.

2 We utilize the term “Latinx” rather than Latino, Latino/a, or Latin@ in an effort to acknowledge non-binary, gender non-conforming people within the community, particularly since the ES program at our research site is intentional about integrating queer histories and experiences into the curriculum.

Additional information

Funding

This study was funded by the University of Massachusetts Amherst [UMass Amherst Public Service Endowment Grant].