| The purpose of this dissertation was to identify how the social justice beliefs and teaching practices of novice and experienced elementary school teachers differ, and how the social justice beliefs of novice teachers differ from entering teacher candidates. Using the measurement tools, the Learning to Teach for Social Justice-Beliefs Scale and the Learning to Teach for Social Justice-Practices Scale data were collected through teacher responses about social justice and socially just teaching practices, then analyzed using SPSS. The findings suggest that there are no statistically significant differences between the social justice beliefs and teaching practices of novice and experienced teachers' however did show some interesting patterns in responses to specific questions. Although, no significant differences were found in the social justice beliefs of novice and experienced teachers, some differences were identified in the social justice beliefs of novice teachers and entering teacher candidates. It can be concluded that further research in this area would lead to a stronger understanding of the social justice beliefs of varying groups of teachers. |
