Social Justice in Preservice and Graduate Education: A Reflective Narrative Analysis

Abstract

This research shows how two teacher educators, one from Canada and one from the United States, have attempted to imbue their preservice and graduate education practices with a sense of social justice, despite the downgrading of the importance of social justice by accreditation agencies such as National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) in the United States. Most specifically, narrative exemplars (Lyons & LaBoskey, 2002) are presented and reflectively analyzed through Connell's (1993) three principles of curricular justice, which lead toward or away from social justice in preservice and graduate education. As a consequence of this inquiry into lived educational practice, rich insights into teaching, learning, and human interaction emerge.