Dr. Patricia Y. Poole-Parrilla

NOVICE TEACHERS’ REFLECTIONS ON THEIR PREPARATION FOR AND PRACTICE WITH BLACK AND BROWN STUDENTS

For decades much research has uncovered the best ways to prepare teachers for supporting racially diverse students. With over 50 years of U.S. teacher education program (TEP) reform (Liu & Ball, 2019). TEPs are still in a nascent stage for training preservice teachers to teach Black and Brown students. Public schools fall short of supporting novice teachers with the tools necessary to teach students of color, i.e., through a multicultural multiracial lens, and mentored in self-reflection and racial reflection. The purpose of this interpretive study was to understand how 12 novice teachers reflected on and made meaning of their teacher preparation for and practice with their Black and Brown students. In addition, to analyze relevant literature drawing upon Schön’s (1983) theory of the reflective practitioner, Milner’s (2016) practices on racial reflection, and the philosophical influence of Greene’s (1971) notion of wide-awakeness for teachers’ critical awareness. This study further sought to describe how teachers used reflective practice to make sense of their own racial identities in their teaching practice. Three interconnected themes relating to novices’ unpreparedness to teach Black and Brown students emerged: Feeling Unprepared, Whose Got My Back, Mentoring Matters, and Identity, Especially Race Matters. Participants reported they had minimal to no explicit exposure to cultural, historical, social, or instructional preparation through a multiracial lens. Recommendations for practice have been suggested for teacher education, certification programs, higher education, school systems, and state governments. Also, thoughts on future research were presented.

Patricia Poole-Parrilla is a teacher mentor and education consultant for Narrative Professional Development Education (NPDE) LLC. Pat taught and held administrative positions PK-12 in private and public schools in Detroit and NY. She opened and led expeditionary learning at a Brooklyn middle schools and was part of Baltimore City’s high school reform. Pat was the Director of Pace University Teacher Opportunity Corps. Pat holds a BA from Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, and an MS from Bank Street College of Education, NY. Pat’s research interests include racial reflexive practice on ‘difference’ through personal narrative, and novice teacher and youth development origin stories reflecting social justice awareness.