“A Good Text with a Well-Intended Teacher”: New Educators Developing and Deepening Social Justice Literature Pedagogies

This qualitative case study examines the experiences of four new educators who participated in a semester-long professional development institute aimed at fostering social justice literature instruction. Specifically, we examine what practices new educators developed and deepened over the course of the institute. Data interpreted through deductive and inductive coding and analysis revealed three major practices: complicating and expanding mandated curriculum, leveraging social justice knowledge for literature teaching strategies, and developing principles for student responsive literature selection. Our implications address how teacher educators can support preservice and new teachers in enacting social justice literature pedagogies.