Critical inclusion for social justice in initial teacher training: Meanings, disputes and proposals

Abstract

In the era of the mercantilization of education, a dispute has arisen over the erosion of meanings historically associated with education for all, inclusive education, and social justice. Therefore, it is urgent to analyze the educational proposals, understandings, and teaching positions promoted in initial teacher education. In this context, a Basque university has redesigned the Primary Education degree practicum, grounded in reflective learning communities with a strong social commitment. In this qualitative case study, using epistemologies of critical and feminist pedagogy, we reflect with the seven teachers participating in the redesign on teachers' social responsibility and commitment, education for inclusion and social justice, as well as on the strengths and weaknesses of the new proposal. To do so, open-ended questionnaires and focus groups were conducted. The analyses show, on the one hand, that learning communities are the most valued spaces for collective re-signification; and, on the other hand, that during teacher education, special attention should be paid to content and pedagogical knowledge, to the need to build collective teaching agency, and to promoting more dialogical and complex pedagogies that encourage the politicization of the profession.