“We All Kind of Just Want to be Accepted as We Come”: A Critical Comparative Case Study Exploring Professionalism Discourses in an Urban Elementary Teacher Preparation Program

Background: There has been a resurgence of dialogue surrounding what belongs in K–12 schools as teachers have been charged with removing emblems of Black history from curricula and required to de-rainbow their classrooms. Discourse on what is appropriate in schools also has informed what is considered professional behavior for preservice teachers during student teaching, a field placement experience. Professionalism expectations in teacher preparation can be exclusionary for preservice teachers from marginalized groups, and diverse preservice teachers’ experiences with professionalism have remained understudied. Therefore, it is important to understand how professionalism expectations have informed diverse preservice teachers’ perspectives of themselves in the field of education and as future teachers. Purpose: The purpose of this dissertation study was to explore preservice teachers’ understanding and experiences via enactments of the professional attributes policy in their preparation program. Research questions that guided this study included: (a) What do state, district, and university level policies convey about what it means to be a professional teacher? (b) What are the perceptions and interpretations of diverse preservice elementary teachers in an urban teacher preparation program about their program’s professional attributes policy? and (c) What recommendations do diverse preservice elementary teachers in an urban teacher preparation program have for making their program’s professional attributes policy more inclusive? Methods: Using a CCCS design, I collected data to allow for comparison across the transversal axis, or across time, to understand (a) how current professionalism policies were informed by historical iterations, and (b) participants’ recommendations for changing the policy to make it more humanizing in the future. Participants were three diverse elementary student teachers at the research site. Data sources included: the program’s professional attributes policy; open-ended survey responses from participants; focus group interviews; course syllabi; fieldwork observation rubrics completed by supervisors; and artwork depicting the participants’ visions for future, humanizing iterations of the policy. Data were analyzed using Mullet’s (2019) process for critical discourse analysis and an adaptation of Kinloch and San Pedro’s (2014) dialogic spiral that incorporated art and zine-making. Results: The findings were discussed using three themes: (a) The Knowledge and Skills of Professional Teachers, (b) The Teacher as a Role Model, and (c) Imagining a More Humanizing Approach to Teacher Professionalism. Conclusion: Findings from this dissertation study could be used to inform the development of humanizing professional attributes policies in teacher preparation programs, which include adjusting standard U.S. English requirements, clarifying dress codes, and engaging in dialogue to develop evaluation processes for preservice teachers. This study has implications for teacher preparation programs and for state- and university-level policies that could inform ways to support diverse student teachers in teacher education programs.

Name thesis:degree_name

Doctor of Philosophy

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Curriculum and Instruction

Grantor

University of Houston

Year dc:date.issued

2025

Author dc:creator

• Shelton, Laura Ashley 1988-

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Alarcón, Jeannette D.

Committee members dc:contributor.committeemember

• Louis, Dave
• Thompson, Amber
• Gist, Conra

• Education--Curricula

Language dc:language.iso

English

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/10657/20618

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:uh-ir.tdl.org:10657/20618