In classrooms, school districts and universities across the country, conversations about race, equity and democracy have grown more fraught, and more necessary than ever. USC Rossier Professor John Pascarella studies how educators navigate this terrain: what it actually takes for teachers, school leaders and teacher educators to keep learning, growing and leading through complexity, especially when the work feels uncomfortable or politically charged. Drawing on qualitative research, policy analysis and national survey data, Pascarella’s work bridges individual experience and institutional context, offering insights that are as useful to practitioners in schools as they are to scholars in the field. He discusses his research and what he hopes it will mean for the future of educator preparation.
What basic question are you trying to answer in your research?
I study how educators lead meaningful change in schools and universities when conversations about race, democracy and educational equity have become increasingly contested. More specifically, I ask what kinds of adult learning experiences help teachers, school leaders and teacher educators develop the knowledge, judgment and adaptive leadership skills needed to improve educational opportunities for historically marginalized students.
What methods do you use to help answer that question, and what do your methods offer that others might not?
I primarily use qualitative research methods including interviews, case studies, narrative inquiry, self-study and action research to understand how educators make sense of complex problems in practice. I also conduct policy analysis and national survey research. Together, these approaches allow me to connect individual experiences with organizational and political contexts, producing research that is both theoretically grounded and directly useful to educators working in schools, universities and communities.
How do you describe your current research to a layperson?
I’m interested in what it takes for adults to keep learning. My research explores how teachers, principals and university faculty learn to have productive conversations about race, identity, democracy and educational opportunity in ways that strengthen schools rather than divide them. At a time when these conversations have become increasingly politicized, I study how educators can continue learning together, even when the work is uncomfortable.
What do you wish for your research to accomplish, in other words how might it be applied?
I expect my research to better serve educator preparation programs, school districts and universities in their efforts to create learning environments where educators can honestly examine inequities, unearth their competing commitments, learn from one another and lead meaningful change in their organizations. Ultimately, I want the work to strengthen how we prepare and support educators so that every student has access to excellent teaching, a genuine sense of belonging and educational opportunities that allow them to thrive.
What project(s) are you most excited to work on next?
I’m especially excited about a series of projects examining how teacher education is changing in response to today’s political landscape. These include studies of how teacher educators prepare future educators to facilitate difficult conversations about equity, national research on racial climate in educator preparation programs and interviews with ed prep leaders across the country about how they are protecting equitable pathways into the teaching profession while navigating new political and legal challenges. Together, these projects explore how teacher education can remain committed to democratic learning and educational opportunity during a period of significant change.
