Imagining Students

The Discursive Creation of Students in Urban Teacher Education Methods Courses

Bibliographic Data

ID11366014
AuthorsLightning Peter Jay (0000-0003-2876-2907, Binghamton University, corresponding author)
Year2026
Pages000-000
Publication date2026-03-20
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueAmerican Journal of Education (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0195-6744 • E-ISSN: 1549-6511
PublisherUniversity of Chicago Press (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1086/740263
OpenAlexW7139932787
LanguageEN
References cited70

Purpose: For decades, researchers studying teachers’ biases have documented the consequences of teachers’ deficit mindsets about students, particularly when white teachers work with students of color. Despite substantial investment, teacher education has not always ameliorated those biases. This study examines what tacit messages about students are contained within teacher educators’ (TEs) messages about instructional practices and teacher candidates’ discussions during methods courses. Research Methods: This comparative study of six English-language arts and social studies methods courses in the United States took place in three urban teacher certification institutions with differing pedagogical perspectives. Informed by critical discourse analysis, this study looks across those settings to develop a holistic portrait of how novices are being primed to encounter student knowledge, thinking, and identity. Findings: Analysis showed that TEs played an important role in framing candidates’ discussion of students, even when those conversational prompts were inexplicit. TEs frequently initiated discussions of students and tended to emphasize students’ intelligence but rarely explored their knowledge or social identities. Preservice teachers largely followed their instructors’ lead, only occasionally using their lived experience to reframe discussions. Implications: If TEs shape candidates’ thinking about students, it will be important for future practice and research to consider more equitable ways to coconstruct teaching and students. Methods courses work at the intersection of theory and practice and provide an opportunity for TEs to have the opportunity to inform novices’ ideas about who urban students are and how they ought to be taught

Higher education · Qualitative research · Semi-structured interview · Teacher education · Teaching method · Educational Theory and Curriculum Studies · Indigenous and Place-Based Education · Literacy, Media, and Education