Transformative Learning in Teacher Education: Literature as a Bridge for Increasing Cultural Competence

Review Of The Literature

The work of the Literature as a Bridge (LAAB) project is grounded in the idea that teaching and learning are socially embedded. Jean Lave’s Situated Learning Theory supports the work, as it is an illustration of learning being rooted in a specific activity or context (Lave, 1985). Here, students from a junior/ senior high school were paired with college students to discuss literature. The space created for learning, situated in online exchanges, created three frames used in the project. The first is that students from racially and ethnically diverse groups need to believe that success in college is possible. The second is that teacher candidates need experience practicing in authentic and diverse contexts (AACTE, 2017; CAEP, 2013). The third is that literature as an effective and connective communication tool (Byrne-Bull, 2011). Although these ideas may appear disparate, the authors have developed a cross-cultural educational project to help address each of these issues in a unique and comprehensive way. The framework of the project is situated in Critical Race Theory (CRT). CRT is focused on the examination and transformation of relationship between race, racism and power (Delgrado & Stefancic, 2012). More specifically, instead of relying on the assumptions of universal truths and master narratives shaping lives, CRT is guided by the assumptions that race is a social construction permeating and affecting all social aspects of life (Ortiz & Jani, 2010). The CRT was chosen as a theoretical framework for this project because it hopes to be a venue for change. CRT does not only make an attempt to understand the society, but also to change it (Delgrado & Stefancic, 2012) and thus, CRT provides a highly appropriate foundation for the project.