"Just" Teaching: Linking Teacher Identity to Community and Practice

Abstract

Classroom communities in Saskatchewan are becoming increasingly diverse. Given that teachers may di er in race and class from many of the students whom they teach, the author asserts that teachers bene t from an exploration of the social construction of their identity. She tells stories of her experiences as a teacher on the school landscape in order to foreground her positioning and to interrogate well- meaning fumbles that she has made. Providing recent and relevant examples in a Canadian context, the author examines the consequences of social strati cation, such as de cit thinking by teachers and institutional racism in schools. She concludes that making the exploration of identity central in teacher education has the potential to promote authentic community in schools and classrooms.