Emerging perspectives on equity:

Abstract

Reflective practice is a crucial component of initial teacher education (ITE), potentially guiding pedagogical praxis toward social justice and equity. Based on the written work of residents in the Chemistry Teaching Program, this article analyses the challenges and opportunities that reflection offers for developing this awareness. Through a qualitative study on the interpretive analysis of two residents' final projects, we investigate how their reflections on chemistry teaching reveal an emerging awareness (or lack thereof) of social justice and equity dimensions. The findings indicate a predominance of focusing on technical and didactic challenges and using descriptive and dialogic reflective writing modalities. While signs of sensitivity toward equity emerge—particularly in the concern for all students' understanding and pedagogical clarity—explicitly critical reflection on the structural dimensions of social justice is still incipient or absent. It is concluded that, although reflective practice constitutes fertile ground, FDI needs to implement more intentional strategies and tools to guide future teachers in connecting their didactic reflections with an active commitment to equity and social justice in the science classroom.