Four novice teacher educators working at different universities in the USA and Canada used online journaling and dialoguing combined with feedback from their students to explore their practice and new roles as teacher educators in new contexts. Their priorities included modeling critical reflection and enacting democratic practices. They chronicle their struggles and successes over the course of an academic year. The authors' online community provided a viable and valued venue for self-study. Findings include insight into their taken-for-granted assumptions, how their instructional efforts were interpreted by others, and the impact that their collaborative efforts had on each researcher's professional development. The authors include implications for universities and colleges regarding the format and structure of mentoring of junior faculty.

We conducted this collaborative self-study to explore the consequences of completing course assignments which were required of our respective students. Students had communicated that these particular assignments were daunting or anxiety-inducing. We placed ourselves in the position of learners with the intended purpose of coming to more fully appreciate and understand our students’ experiences. Data sources included our shared researcher journals and correspondence as well as student responses collected through discussion and anonymous written reflections. By using ourselves as primary examples, we endeavored to demonstrate the process of critical reflection, lessen student anxiety about experiences they view as uncomfortable, promote the co-construction of knowledge, model the teacher-researcher perspective, and improve our collective professional practice. This study has significance for other teacher educators, many of whom might require students to engage in tasks they have not done themselves or which they have not done in some time. Engaging in those tasks transparently and modeling critical reflection with students were beneficial to students’ professional development and transformed the way we approach our roles as teacher educators.

The social unrest during the summer of 2020 in the United States has produced a renewed sense of urgency and agency for the interrogation of curriculum in K-12 education and the development of culturally sustaining practices. This urgency has encouraged more teacher preparation programs to be intentional in developing culturally sustaining teachers. This paper offers four pillars to frame classroom practices to be integrated holistically and support middle level preservice teachers’ development of their culturally sustaining practices. Pillar one focuses on understanding self. The ability to honestly self-reflect and to understand personal practice deeply and continually is critical. Pillar two is decentering whiteness/self. This is the act of interrogating curriculum and classroom experiences to uncover places where teachers can widen their frames and incorporate perspectives from historically marginalized populations. Pillar three is outreach. Personalized learning and examining asset based perspectives allow preservice teachers opportunities to develop their own outreach practices. Pillar four is communication. The ability to express ourselves in a variety of ways and view our individual cultures and experiences as assets are important in communicating what is important to us and the needs that must be met. These four pillars give agency and are a strong framework for developing culturally sustaining teachers at a time that is urgent.