Affecting Engagements in Justice-Oriented Teacher Preparation: A Psychosocial Intersectional Approach

Abstract

This study examines the affective responses of pre-service teacher candidates and how intersections of race and whiteness, gender, and class influence teacher preparation in urban school contexts. Within a US neoliberal urban education reform context, we draw upon affect theory (Ahmed, 2014) and intersectionality theory (Collins, 2000; Crenshaw, 1991) as a theoretical lens that informs a psychosocial intersectional methodological approach (Scheurich & Mason, 2024) to examine three events that took place during the study. This study contributes to understanding how affect and intersectionality inform urban education contexts and the meaning-making of teachers in both oppressor/oppressed positions and offers insights into how affective complicity may be challenged in justice-oriented teacher education programs.