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My teaching and research specializations are in the sociocultural foundations of education, urban/multicultural education, critical and relational pedagogical frameworks, and qualitative and action research methodologies. My work foregrounds democratic and capacity-building processes that can lead to truly transformative and more sustainable change for individuals, organizations, and communities. 

Broadly, my scholarship interrogates matters of compassion, diversity, opportunity, critical consciousness, relationship, inclusion, relevance, authenticity, and engagement in pre-K through higher education. I correspondingly study how socially engaged researchers enact our own critical consciousness, are compassionate to ourselves and participants, embark on personally relevant and authentic work, and disrupt dominant research paradigms that too often perpetuate the suppression of divergent perspectives.

My current practitioner and collaborative action research focuses on the relational aspects of teaching and learning with pre-service teachers, examining how the factors of critical pedagogy, authentic caring, and a transformative justice curriculum influence my students’ sense of humanity, empowerment, and social purpose, especially as these apply to their future roles as educators in a pluralistic society. I strive to set an example for students of what it means to be a humane educator in the face of increasingly regulated and instrumental mandates that would challenge teachers’ autonomy to make crucial decisions about their work and how they treat their students. 

My own invisible physical disability, a lifetime of fluctuating access to resources and privileges, as well as various other personal and family traits, tragedies, identities, and experiences have greatly influenced the work that I do. We can never possibly know enough about the people with whom we come in contact, making it all the more important to appreciate and respect every one individually. I believe that by recognizing historical, structural, and cultural inequities, validating multiple forms of knowledge and experience, and embracing all types of diversity, we can create alternatives that overcome our current barriers so that everyone has a chance to reach their individual potential as well as thrive within, contribute to, and harmoniously interact as equals in a more enlightened global society.

Amy Rector-Aranda Toronto AERA 2019.jpg

About Me

Welcome

Amy Rector-Aranda, Rodin Museum, Philadelphia
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