Online

Kim, Rhiannon M.

Educational Leadership and Policy Studies

2023

Ed. D.

The way we teach (pedagogy) is as important as what we teach (content). Graduate level coursework is a form of professional development that many educators pursue. The pedagogical approaches utilized in many educational spaces, including in graduate level courses, is often built from the "banking model of education" (Freire, 1978/2018) in which the lecturer/facilitator gives information to others rather than engaging in a collaborative learning space. This mixed-methods study will explore the experiences of participants and of myself, a mixed/multiracial Korean and White facilitator and researcher in a graduate level course utilizing an embodied socially just healing pedagogy of praxis. This study aimed to understand the potential impact of this pedagogical approach on participants in a three-week hybrid intensive summer course. Quantitative data measured change over time using a pre-test and post-test survey to measure change in their awareness of social injustice, their confidence in disrupting social injustice, their actions to embody social justice teaching, and their implementation of social justice, embodiment practices, and trauma-informed practices in their workplace, as well as their perception of how socially accepted they perceive social justice, embodiment practices, and trauma-informed practices to be. The quantitative data was mixed with qualitative data to understand the connection between participant change and their experiences in the course. Additionally, this research explored my experiences as a mixed race Korean and White facilitator and researcher. The elements of an embodied socially just healing pedagogy of praxis are explored in depth as a result of this research.