Equity-focused book clubs allow aspiring teachers to
reflect on identity, personal histories
"Confronting Extremism Through a Book Club Series in a STEM Educator Program" was funded by UCI Office of Inclusive Excellence grant
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Teachers play a pivotal role in addressing issues of inequity in K-12 STEM classrooms, especially for historically marginalized students.
"Teacher preparation can be an ideal time for aspiring teachers to develop their identities and dispositions to be disruptors of an oppressive K-12 system, and bring about meaningful change for underrepresented youth in STEM," said Ph.D. student Socorro Cambero. With this aim in mind, the "Confronting Extremism Through a Book Club Series in a STEM Educator Program" centered on the UCI CalTeach program, the four-year bachelor's degree plus California teaching credential program for STEM majors at UCI. The project team included Cambero, Assistant Professor Adriana Villavicencio, and Director of UCI CalTeach Doron Zinger. The team was invited to present at the "Building Community to Confront Extremism" event hosted by the UCI Office of Inclusive Excellence on May 12. |
Socorro Cambero (second from left) and the CalTeach student book club engaging in Start Here, Start Now By Liz Kleinrock
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"The mission of CalTeach is to prepare future teachers to become socially just change agents in high-need schools, where most students are from underrepresented backgrounds, including low-income and first generation," Cambero said.
The project's goal was to create spaces for aspiring teachers to confront their own implicit and explicit biases, and to better position them to fight extremism and create inclusive spaces for their own students.
"We engaged in a year-long series of equity-focused book clubs, where aspiring teachers could reflect on their personal histories and their identities," Cambero said. The Office of Inclusive Excellence's Confronting Extremism grant helped build a sustainable community of practice for future teachers committed to social justice and equity.
"This project has helped us to be intentional about how we create spaces for people to grapple and learn from each other and can enable people to reflect and talk about issues and questions related to equity and inclusion," Cambero said.
"The use of book clubs can impact the pedagogical practices of existing and future educators. Moreover, this practice can also inform STEM education scholarship and be a model for teacher preparation programs beyond UCI aiming to combat extremism and promote equity."
The project's goal was to create spaces for aspiring teachers to confront their own implicit and explicit biases, and to better position them to fight extremism and create inclusive spaces for their own students.
"We engaged in a year-long series of equity-focused book clubs, where aspiring teachers could reflect on their personal histories and their identities," Cambero said. The Office of Inclusive Excellence's Confronting Extremism grant helped build a sustainable community of practice for future teachers committed to social justice and equity.
"This project has helped us to be intentional about how we create spaces for people to grapple and learn from each other and can enable people to reflect and talk about issues and questions related to equity and inclusion," Cambero said.
"The use of book clubs can impact the pedagogical practices of existing and future educators. Moreover, this practice can also inform STEM education scholarship and be a model for teacher preparation programs beyond UCI aiming to combat extremism and promote equity."
