Navigating the Reframe: How Bree Picower’s Reading, Writing, and Racism Extends Beyond Higher Education

Conversations around teacher education programs are highly relevant for juvenile justice facilities and programs, as the teachers trained through these programs are often the professionals employed in juvenile justice programs throughout the United States. Critically, unacknowledged or unresolved biases and white supremacist ideologies present in juvenile justice environments will impact the participants and the climates of their future programs. Therefore, the unique needs of juvenile justice programs, and the youth served by them, should be represented in teacher education curricula. To ensure this happens, juvenile justice administrators and practitioners must create collaborative and mutually beneficial partnerships with their local teacher education programs to develop resources aimed at fostering a positive and culturally informed pedagogical and rehabilitative environment. In her book Reading, Writing, and Racism: Disrupting Whiteness in Teacher Education and in the Classroom, Bree Picower recognizes teacher education programs as sites for anti-racist, social justice practices, and discusses how community partnerships established through Racial Justice Programs (RJPs) can critically shape the curricula and pedagogical approaches in teacher education programs and create space for teacher candidates to engage in extensive self-reflection and cultural awareness. This book review seeks to extend Picower’s application of RJPs beyond the classroom and into juvenile justice programs and community collaborations to create more resources, services, and educational opportunities for justice-involved youth. RJPs may help ensure pre-service teachers are thoughtful partners with firsthand knowledge and experience regarding the specialized care and community partnerships needed to serve justice-involved youth and programs.