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The Urban Review

, Volume 47, Issue 2, pp 237–265 | Cite as

Race, Isolation, and Exclusion: What Early Childhood Teacher Educators Need to Know About the Experiences of Pre-Service Teachers of Color

  • Ranita Cheruvu
  • Mariana Souto-Manning
  • Tara Lencl
  • Marisa Chin-Calubaquib
Article
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Abstract

Historically, in the United States, early childhood teacher education has been a discursive space dominated by White, English-monolingual, middle class perspectives. By and large, this space has remained unexamined even as the field acknowledges the need for more early childhood teachers of color. This study seeks to gain insights into the perspectives of pre-service teachers of color as they navigate this Eurocentric space. To do so, it addresses the following question: In what ways does early childhood teacher education shape the experiences of pre-service teachers of color? By looking closely at the perspectives of four pre-service teachers of color in predominantly White private institutions of higher education in large urban centers, this study seeks to address the pressing need to illuminate the experiences of students of color in early childhood pre-service teacher education programs, especially regarding the ways in which they negotiate becoming teachers in such a normed space while battling both socially-imposed and self-internalized deficit conceptions of their own identities as individuals and developing teachers.

Keywords

Early childhood teacher education Pre-service teachers of color Critical race theory Borderland identities Teacher isolation Racialized relationships Exclusion 
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© Springer Science+Business Media New York 2014

Authors and Affiliations

  • Ranita Cheruvu
    • 1
    • 2
    • 5
  • Mariana Souto-Manning
    • 1
    • 3
  • Tara Lencl
    • 1
  • Marisa Chin-Calubaquib
    • 1
    • 4
  1. 1.Teachers CollegeColumbia UniversityNew YorkUSA
  2. 2.Department of Elementary and Early Childhood EducationWilliam Paterson University of New JerseyWayneUSA
  3. 3.University of GeorgiaAthensUSA
  4. 4.University of San DiegoSan DiegoUSA
  5. 5.College of Education, Department of Elementary & Early Childhood EducationWayneUSA

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