Aspiring Educators, Urban Teens, and Conflicting Perspectives on the Social Contract

Watts, Williams, and Jagers (2003) define critical consciousness as an awareness of existing social inequities and their history, including the processes and outcomes of oppression. Many scholars and reformers are asking secondary-level educators to deepen the critical consciousness of their teenage students by teaching them about ways in which race, class, and gender systematically influence Americans’ access to economic and educational opportunity. However, the widening demographic gap between teachers and students in urban secondary schools and associated differences in their beliefs about America’s opportunity structure can pose serious challenges for teachers who are committed to critical consciousness education. In this article, we suggest that teacher preparation programs must offer aspiring urban teachers not only a sociological and historical perspective on inequality but also a developmental perspective on how people’s beliefs about inequality evolve and are influenced by their social positioning. We also offer specific recommendations for human development content that may be useful in this endeavor.