CALL FOR PAPERS

Teacher Diversity Matters:

A National Symposium on Preparing,
Recruiting, and Retaining Teachers of Color

September 15, 2017 | Northern Kentucky University
Keynote Address
You Are Because I Am: The Necessity of Identity,
Mutuality, and Equity in Teacher Education
Cynthia B. Dillard
Mary Frances Early Professor of Teacher Education
Chair, Department of Educational Theory and Practice
University of Georgia

According to the National Center for Education Statistics (2011), 45% of students in K-12 schools in the United States are from racially and ethnically diverse backgrounds, while 83% of the teaching force is White. The racial disparity in the demographic composition of K-12 students and teachers has led university teacher education programs and school districts to prepare all teachers, especially White teachers, to work with diverse students. Yet often sidelined in these initiatives are the challenging tasks of preparing, recruiting, and retaining teachers of color as well as the challenging truths about the experiences of aspiring and practicing teachers of African American, Latinx, Asian American and Pacific Islander, Native American, Middle Eastern, and mixed race backgrounds.

This national symposium puts teacher diversity at the center of educational and public discussions. It invites papers that will focus on the development, implementation, and evaluation of university and school policies, programs, and practices that increase the numbers and enhance the experiences of aspiring and practicing teachers of color. These papers should aim to build upon and even depart from the existing scholarship and praxis on diversifying the teaching workforce (e.g., Ball & Tyson, 2011; Irvine, 2003; Ladson-Billings, 2005; Milner, 2014; Sleeter, Neal & Kumashiro, 2015; Villegas & Lucas, 2002). They are also encouraged to open new questions and provoke new possibilities, explore various intersectionalities, contexts, and strategies, and glean from both successes and shortcomings, in the ongoing pursuit of a more inclusive teaching population.

This national symposium invites paper proposals from scholars, researchers, practitioners, and students based in higher education, K-12 schools, and the community at large. The proposals should include: the paper title and abstract (no more than 250 words); and the name(s), position(s) and affiliation(s), and contact detail(s) – organization(s), email address(es), and phone number(s) – of the presenter(s). If your paper proposal is selected, you will be expected to submit a complete paper prior to the symposium for the session discussant. A number of original papers will also be selected for review and publication in a special issue of the Educational Studies journal.

Organizers                           Roland Sintos Coloma, David Childs, and Brandelyn Tosolt

Department of Teacher Education, Northern Kentucky University email: NKUTeacherDiversity@gmail.com | phone: (859) 572-1957

For more information and updates, check out: inside.nku.edu/TeacherDiversity