How Do Preservice Teachers Make Sense of Educational Inequalities? Exploring Critical Consciousness Through Mixed Methods

This study adopted a mixed-methods approach to explore the critical consciousness (CC) of German preservice teachers regarding educational inequalities related to socioeconomic status (SES) and family migration history. We examined how CC manifests in preservice teachers, how the CC subcomponents relate to each other, and what factors predict CC. Preservice teachers (N = 93, M_age = 24.29 years, SD_age = 5.77) responded to open-ended questions capturing their CC and completed rating-scale measures of potential predictors (i.e., discrimination, taken classes on diversity and equity, social dominance orientation, subjective SES). Qualitative analysis revealed preservice teachers attributed educational inequalities to individual, structural, and parental capital factors. Proposed actions to reduce educational inequalities included equality and inclusion, individual support, critical action, and multicultural education. Quantitative analysis indicated discrimination experiences predicted critical action intentions. Understanding preservice teachers' CC can guide targeted interventions and teacher training programs that equip them to effectively address educational inequalities.