Critical Inquiry and Collaborative Action: Transforming a College of Education to Recruit and Retain Underrepresented Populations to Teacher Education

Abstract

This documentary account describes how a task force comprised of college of education faculty and university admissions staff from a medium sized comprehensive university engaged in a critical inquiry process to address the issue of recruiting and retaining underrepresented students in teacher education (i.e., men and culturally and linguistically diverse students). The group examined the issues and challenges associated with an education college‘s recruitment, application, selection and retention processes. The paper suggests how critical inquiry groups of higher education faculty and staff may support the transformation of policies, practices and relationships needed to increase the number of teacher candidates from non-dominant communities. The purpose of this documentary account is to describe how a task force comprised of college of education faculty and university admissions staff from a medium sized comprehensive university engaged in a critical inquiry process (Nieto & Bode, 2008; Darling-Hammond, French & Garcia-Lopez, 2002) to address the issue of recruiting and retaining underrepresented students in teacher education (i.e., culturally and linguistically diverse students and men in elementary education). The critical inquiry process engaged key stakeholders from October 2009 to May 2010 in monthly meetings focused on the sharing of theoretical and empirical research in a collaborative task force, the investigation and analysis of demographic and program data, and the development of collectively warranted recommendations (Carroll, 2006). The document produced out of this collaboration was endorsed by college leadership and faculty and lead to the implementation of programmatic and professional development action steps to address critical issues. This account illustrates a promising approach to multi-level institutional change through the development of ―critical communities‖ of colleagues (French, Chu and Yasui, 2010) engaged in ―cultural praxis‖ (Goto, French, Timmons Flores & Lawrence, 2011). This account involves a large teacher education program contending with the nation-wide dilemma of how to achieve a better match between the demographics of the teaching force and that of the P-12 student population. A key charge of the task force was to embody the promise of the college‘s mission to "foster community relationships and a culture of learning that advance knowledge, embrace diversity and promote social justice." Over the previous five years, college wide application and enrollment data for teacher candidates of color ranged from 6-15%, in a state with over 37% of the P-12 school enrollment identifying as students of color (OSPI, 2010). A ―demographic urgency‖ became apparent as data were analyzed, revealing a striking mismatch between the population of teacher candidates and the P-12 population (Sleeter & Milner, 2011). While this is a nation-wide problem, Washington State ranks next to last among all states in the mis-match between the demographics of its teachers and students (OSPI, 2010, Peterson & Nadle, 2009). 1 Chu et al.: Critical Inquiry and Collaborative Action: Transforming a College Published by PDXScholar, 2011 FALL 2011 61 Since 1971-72, when the percentage or non-white students in P-12 schools was only 7.5%, there has been a dramatic change. The following figure illustrates the contrast in Washington between the fast-changing demographics of the student population and the relatively unchanging demographics of the teacher population. Figure 1. P-12 Student and Teacher Demographics, 2001-02 to 2010-11 The task force was influenced especially by the data indicating the population of nonwhite, low income students continues to grow and the majority of our teachers are white, middleclass, monolingual, women who have little experience with cultures different than their own (Nieto & Body, 2008). For those who participated in this learning community, the motivation to diversify the teaching profession was based on a commitment to educational equity and the potential for diverse teachers to make a difference for the learning of their students but also for their colleagues and faculty. The purpose of the task force was to review the literature, gather and analyze varied data sources uncover promising practices within the college and elsewhere, and recommend new approaches to increase access to the teacher preparation program for students from non-dominant communities. Early in the process, task force members collaborated to clarify their shared values and beliefs to define the principles that influenced their interpretations and recommendations. Critical multicultural teacher education (Nieto & Bode, 2008; Timmons Flores, 2007) with its emphasis on equity and on multiculturalism /multilingualism as critical strengths needed for all future teachers to be successful teaching all P-12 students emerged as a common foundation for task force members to begin their work (Sleeter, 2001; Zeichner, 2009). The group shared James Bank‘s view of multicultural education that its ―...major goal is to change the structure of educational institutions so that male and female students, exceptional students, and students who are members of diverse racial, ethnic, language, and cultural groups have an equal chance to achieve academically in school (Banks & Banks, 2007, p.1)‖. Members embraced social justice 2 Northwest Journal of Teacher Education, Vol. 9, Iss. 2 [2011], Art. 5 https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/nwjte/vol9/iss2/5 DOI: 10.15760/nwjte.2012.9.2.5 62 NORTHWEST PASSAGE, 9(2) as both a process and a goal to ensure ―...full and equal participation of all groups in society...‖ (Adams, Bell & Griffin, 2007) and they adopted equitable participation as central to any recruitment and retention reform agenda. Finally, Nieto and Bode‘s (2008) emphasis on the issue of power (e.g., who has it, how it is used, who benefits from this power) was another primary consideration of not only multicultural education in general, but the work of this task force. As noted in the task force report, in addressing the charge to re-imagine the college mission related to diversity and social justice, group members became committed to move collectively beyond a past history of individual heroic efforts and self-assuring rhetoric, to tangible action steps that would result in shifts in institutional culture and practices, ultimately resulting in a change in the demographics of teacher candidates in the college (Chu & Carroll, 2010). When the task force members looked across the state and nation to identify promising practices, elements of some programs emerged to guide the group‘s subsequent work. ―Pipeline‖ programs such as the University of Southern California‘s Latino and Language Minority Teacher Projects emphasized recruiting paraprofessionals from specific communities through support from foundations such as the DeWitt Wallace-Reader‘s Digest Fund‘s Pathways to Teaching Careers program. The program began in the mid-1990‘s and certified hundreds of bilingual teachers through an emphasis on student cohorts, on site faculty mentors and seminars with internships in their own schools (Sleeter & Milner, 2011; Zeichner, 2009; Genzuk & Baca, 1998). The elements of successful ―pipeline‖ models resonated for a number of task force members who had been involved at other institutions with efforts supporting bilingual high school graduates and paraeducators to gain access to higher education, complete their degrees and address challenges around recruitment and retention of underrepresented candidates (Chu, Martinez-Griego, Cronin, 2010; Whitebook, et. al, in press). At the same time, critical dialogue focused the group‘s awareness on a type of ―professional racism,‖ a view that assumes the P-12 achievement gap would be reduced and culturally competent pedagogy would automatically increase if teachers of color increased in numbers (Gay, 2010). The group recognized that the task was not only to increase the number of future teachers whose backgrounds better matched the student population but to better prepare all teacher candidates to teach effectively across cultural, linguistic, and socio-economic differences. However, it was also recognized, as Sleeter and Milner (2011, p. 84), state, ―...the research on the value of diversifying the teaching force is too compelling to ignore the potential benefits for students of color and all students‖. The benefits they describe include that teachers of color can serve as role-models for a greater diversity of students, shift white students‘ perceptions about the capacities of persons of color, provide appropriate culturally or linguistically-based teaching approaches, and expand the views held within a school‘s teaching force. Therefore, while a central measure of the group‘s effectiveness would be an increase in the numbers of candidates of color applying to programs, attention remained focused on change factors that would create a program and culture in the college to support all candidates to teach all children with culturally relevant practices. Perspectives, Problem Posing and Shared Understandings The theoretical perspectives that emerged in the work of the task force were informed by the recognition that the teacher education programs operated under an unspoken paradigm by which the college enrolled highly academically qualified candidates and then attempted to increase the sociocultural consciousness of a mostly white student group through experiences, 3 Chu et al.: Critical Inquiry and Collaborative Action: Transforming a College Published by PDXScholar, 2011 FALL 2011 63 curricula, and pedagogy associated with their education courses. The task force concluded that it was time to challenge that paradigm by exerting deliberate effort to recruit and retain candidates from underrepresented populations who had both academic and cultural capital that would better equip them with the depth of und