Beyond Virtue Signaling: From Talking About to Enacting a Pedagogical Praxis of Justice in Urban Classrooms

Authors

Melissa L. Gibson, Marquette UniversityFollow

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2022

Publisher

SAGE

Source Publication

Urban Education

Source ISSN

0042-0859

Original Item ID

DOI: 10.1177/00420859221107612

Abstract

Drawing on ethnographic data of an urban school, this paper contrasts how two White female teachers take up the idea of ‘teaching for social justice.’ Fourth-grade teacher Maestra Rachel enacts a superficial understanding focused solely on curricular topics, while third-grade teacher Maestra Jennifer roots her teaching in an understanding of how students experience racial oppression in school. These cases demonstrate that a praxis of justice attends to curriculum and power, relationships, pedagogy, achievement, and identity. White teachers, specifically, must interrogate the role of Whiteness in their teaching, or they risk engaging in virtue signaling that reproduces injustice.

Comments

Urban Education, online before print. DOI.

Recommended Citation

Gibson, Melissa L., "Beyond Virtue Signaling: From Talking About to Enacting a Pedagogical Praxis of Justice in Urban Classrooms" (2022). College of Education Faculty Research and Publications. 600.
https://epublications.marquette.edu/edu_fac/600