Tensions and Caring in Teacher Education: A Self-Study on Teaching in Difficult Moments

ABSTRACT Teacher educators who seek to advance social justice perspectives and promote equity-oriented dispositions often engage with challenging and controversial issues relevant to schooling, the lives of students, and the work of teachers. Addressing equity issues and controversial topics can be challenging and fraught with tensions for both students and teacher educators. The purpose of this self-study was to gain insight from a critical incident about a class discussion on an issue (i.e., gender normativity in curriculum and classrooms) that occurred in a graduate course for in-service teachers. The critical incident represented a challenging pedagogical moment given diverse perspectives on the issue. The qualitative inquiry was anchored in LaBoskey’s framing elements for self-study. Conceptual frameworks employed in analysis were Berry’s tensions in teacher education and Noddings’s ethic of care. Findings suggest that classroom discussions in moments of tension can be facilitated productively by (a) teacher educators acknowledging that the content under discussion may be of both political and personal relevance; (b) disclosing that the intent of discussions on controversial issues is to share and learn, not indoctrination; and (c) recognizing when continuing a discussion on a controversial issue is pedagogically unproductive. Implications for teaching practice and research are provided.