Preparing educators who save lives: what can US schools of education do?

Purpose Aided with critical-race theory (Ladson-Billings, 1998), culturally responsive pedagogy tenets (Gay, 2002), and culturally sustaining pedagogy philosophy (Paris, 2012). The purpose of this paper is to make a two-pronged argument that: the killing of blacks has taken many forms, physical, moral, intellectual, cultural, and financial; and through its endorsement of racist policies, the education domain is a covert partaker in the killing of black lives. The author proceeds to tell her story of how lived experience, i.e., related to racism and inequities, inspired her to implement a curriculum that saves lives. She then proposes actionable measures that leaders of schools of education can take to show that they are allies of anti-black-racism and racial equity voices in education. Design/methodology/approach Methodologically, this paper is situated in the intersection of three methodological models, which share the use of narrative as a source of evidence: critical participatory action research, critical autoethnography and narrative inquiry. Findings The author’s narrative of lived experience, demonstrates the difficulty of black faculty of education to prepare nonblack educators who save black children’s lives and the author’s determination to tailor her syllabus to that urgent goal. Originality/value This study is one of its kind in claiming that ill-prepared teachers can “kill lives” and advocating that “saving lives” should be the mission of teacher preparation programs, especially those in high-diversity urban schools.