Presentation Schedule
Consciousness Raising and Freedom Dreaming: Digital Storytelling as Liberatory Praxis in Teacher Education (102992)
Session Chair: Ashley Harrison
Monday, 5 January 2026 13:10
Session: Session 2 (Parallel)
Room: Ala Moana Hotel: Pakalana & Anthurium Room
Presentation Type: Oral Presentation
This qualitative multiple case study investigates how teacher candidates enrolled in Children’s Literature, Methods and Materials in TESOL, and Adolescent Literacies courses from 2023 to 2025 engaged with refugee-background families across culturally and linguistically diverse communities. In each course, candidates participated in initiatives that connected them with translingual children, youth, and families in their homes, fostering care and building empathy in out-of-school contexts through reading and responding to children’s literature, assisting with homework, and engaging in play and outdoor activities such as hiking and horseback riding. Guided by critical consciousness (Freire, 1970) and notions of freedom dreaming (hooks, 1994; Kelley, 2002; Love, 2019), this study asks: In what ways do teacher candidates engage in liberatory praxis, act in solidarity with marginalized communities, embody critical humility, and cultivate justice- and equity-centered practices grounded in ethical responsiveness and transformative purpose when reflecting on their learning through digital storytelling? Data sources include digital storytelling artifacts, reflective journals, and mid-semester and end-of-semester self reflection surveys, analyzed through thematic coding and cross-case analysis (Miles, Huberman, & Saldaña, 2019). Findings reveal how digital storytelling enabled teacher candidates to engage with their own positionalities in reflective and reflexive ways, resist deficit-based perspectives, and imagine more just and humanizing educational futures. This study highlights the transformative potential of justice-focused coursework and community-based partnerships in preparing teacher candidates to become equity-minded educators who work toward liberatory possibilities for children, youth, and families from refugee backgrounds.
Authors:
Nermin Vehabovic, Elon University, United States
About the Presenter(s)
Dr Nermin Vehabovic is a University Assistant Professor/Lecturer at Elon University in United States
See this presentation on the full schedule – Monday Schedule
Conference Comments & Feedback
Place a comment using your LinkedIn profileShare this Presentation
Comments
Powered by WP LinkPress