Partnership and teacher formation for global social justice

This chapter will demonstrate how exposure to issues of social injustice in a global context, such as child poverty, climate change, Fairtrade and the plight of refugees, alongside a period of community engagement can impact upon who the future educator is as a person, including their values, attitudes and associated dispositions. It will be argued that a genuine world-wide horizon must be grounded in a concern for the local as much as the global and does not demand international experience. Case studies, selected to highlight the diversity of community engagement experiences that can lead to these outcomes, will be drawn upon to illustrate the ongoing impact of such intervention upon the professional identity of future educators. It also responds to concerns that research and practice in teacher education tend to focus upon short term observable outcomes rather than longer term changes in behaviour, attitude and practice.\ud \ud Evidence will be provided that professional resilience is developed and sustained through nurturing a sense of vocation and challenging future teachers to consider the broader purposes of education. The chapter reiterates the need to focus upon individual change: the importance of who the educator is becoming as a person, including their values, virtues and associated dispositions and highlights the importance of collaboration and partnership in achieving these aims