Becoming A Teacher of Hope: A critical ethnography of occupational socialization during an age of teacher deskilling

This critical ethnography explores how five novice teachers committed to teaching in socially critical and pedagogically democratic ways experience the occupational socialization process as they begin teaching in conventional public elementary schools. The question raised is to what extent, if at all, do these novice teachers, who were educated in a teacher education program with a critical and democratic ethos, resist or in some instances embrace the occupational socialization process meant to minimize the effects of their teacher education. This study traces the historical structuring of three key occupational socializing factors aimed at deskilling teachers in the classroom. Further, data suggests that novice teachers are aware of the factors and take actions toward resisting or accepting these attempts of deskilling. The implications of this study contribute to the fields of both critical ethnography and teacher education through the reliance of participants to actively engage in the research and help in the creation of new knowledge and meaning about how teacher education might engage in practices aimed at eliminating the reproduction of the status quo.