Educating students to be active agents in disrupting systematic inequalities in educational settings is paramount, and hotly debated in the teacher education literature (e.g., Cochran-Smith, 2020) with the inequalities highlighted by the pandemic bringing fresh calls for social justice to be fore-fronted in  teacher education (Mikolai, Keenan & Kulu, 2020; Ellis, Steadman & Mao, 2020). In this paper we examine education students’ understandings of social justice in two cohorts, who started their course either just prior to or during the pandemic.  Taking the above into account, this paper seeks to explore the following questions: (1) What are students’ lived experiences of social justice as they negotiate their placements and university teaching sessions during the pandemic and (2) How do these differ for students who started before and during the pandemic?
                Teaching for social justice in any teacher education programme is a complex process.  This is because as teacher educators, we socially construct our knowledge of the curriculum and our teaching practices to best meet the needs of our learners.  The outcomes of our teacher education programmes therefore, cannot be known at the time of our curriculum design and delivery as our student teachers are also constructing their own meanings.  A recent review highlighted the common themes of ‘equity-related advocacy’ and concerns with ‘justice’ as well as the importance of the particular social and political contexts at any particular moment in time (Cochran-Smith, 2020). With this in mind, we sought to investigate students’ perceptions not only of social justice, but also of their awareness of the social and political contexts in which social justice may be claimed, constructed and worked toward.

The Covid-19 pandemic has inevitably produced wide-reaching, global implications on practice, teaching and learning, and infrastructure within higher education settings (Farnell, Matijevic & Schmidt, 2021). This time has further highlighted inequalities present in schools and exacerbated long-standing structural and societal inequalities for everyone (Mikolai, et al., 2020). Bozkurt & Sharma (2021) viewed this time as a period for reflection and the potential for educational reform. Specifically, they suggest that this time would allow educators to critically evaluate much-used pedagogical process and provide an opportunity to disrupt traditional approaches to teaching. In turn, this would allow for a re-focus towards promoting equity, social justice, and person-centred focus in teaching to come. Others suggest that while educators cannot make systemic changes alone, they must now prioritise guaranteeing the rights and voices of all children and emphasising representation in their teaching (Tarabini, 2021).

                These suggested directions for change are also beginning to be reflected directly in universities and schools. One teacher education program presented their re-framed approaches to teaching and learning as a response to the pandemic (Hill, Rosehar, St. Helene & Sadhra, 2020). The authors describe an active re-envisioning of their teacher education, with social justice at the centre. For example, focusing on dismantling systemic inequalities and racism, decolonising the curriculum and prioritising wellbeing and mental health in schools. Similarly, in a small-scale interview study with leaders in teacher education at universities in four regions of the world, staff were overwhelmingly in favour of changes and innovation (Ellis et al., 2020). Many participants made commitments to prioritising areas relating to social justice, however one further question was how to ensure this new stance was maintained in the following years. It is now crucial to build on our previous work (Jones, Eady and Craig, 2022) to understand if such changes following the Covid-19 pandemic have been carried forward and implemented, and to what extent changes arising from COVID-19 are reflected in the way that Education students themselves, talk about and consider social justice.

Online surveys were completed by N = 264 (two cohorts) of Education students. The students were following a PGDE in Home Economics, a BA in Education Studies or a BA in Education Studies (with Qualified Teacher Status). Data collection took place prior to the start of teaching in August 2019, and prior to the start of teaching in August 2020, then again at the end of that academic teaching year (2020-21). The students in the first cohort, n =133 (120 female) had a mean age of 17.64 years (SD = 6.81 years). Of these students, n = 101 students stated that they were white British or white Irish, 5 that they had a different white ethnicity, 20 that they had mixed Black and white ethnicity; 1 that they had Black ethnicity, and 5 that they had an Asian ethnicity. One participant did not declare their ethnicity. The second cohort, n =131 (118 female) had a mean age of 20.62 years (SD = 6.96 years). Of these students, n = 117 students stated that they were white British or white Irish, 6 that they had a different white ethnicity, 1 that they had mixed Black and white ethnicity; 1 that they had Black ethnicity, and 2 that they had an Asian ethnicity, and two that they had African ethnicity. Two participants did not declare their ethnicity. We measured demographic characteristics, including age, sex, ethnicity, and whether students were from a widening participation background (the first in their household to come to university; completed an HND / HNC course; student-parent; foster care-leaver; carer). Alongside this, we asked students at each time point to provide a definition of social justice. At the end of the academic year 202-2021 all students were also asked to provide examples of social justice in their university classes, and as appropriate their community-based placements or school-based placements or subject lessons. At this point they were also asked open-ended questions concerning (a) the difference between equity and equality, and (b) whether learning about different cultures is important to help them understand their identity as educators, and their own culture, and why.

Through a thematic analysis, three key themes of Awareness, Strategies for Equity and Respect elucidated students’ definitions and experiences of social justice. Awareness here refers the students’ identification of different aspects of social justice issues. Further, this awareness reflected social justice as a learning tool to help students’ to understand the identified issues and to empathize with the situations and experiences of others. In Cohort 1, n = 11 students showed evidence of awareness, whereas in cohort 2 n = 14 showed evidence of awareness. Conceptions of respect encompassed being non-judgmental, inclusive, respecting the rights of other groups and cultures, and the right to a voice. In cohort 1 n = 8 students reflected upon respect, whereas in cohort 2, n = 11 students did so. Students’ reflections on equity recognized that each person has different circumstances and that there is a need to allocate the exact resources and opportunities towards equality. In contrast ‘equality’ meant that individuals or groups are given the same resources or opportunities. In cohort 1, n = 10 students reflected on equity, in cohort 2, n = 33 students referred to it. It was also found that in the second cohort, there was more reference to classroom experience than in the first cohort, arguably because the pandemic had led the second cohort to experience less in the way of time in school due to schools being closed and placements cancelled. We saw students’ reflections on the way in which the pandemic has exacerbated existing structural inequalities, alongside student teachers’ awareness of the importance of further including children’s voice in their practice, as well as emphasising representation. Our research findings thus extend the literature on students’ conceptions of social justice and have implications for teacher educators internationally, who are considering social justice with their students.

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