Introduction: Caring about Social Justice Issues in Teacher Education

What these new attacks on teacher education mean for the role and place of social justice is not entirely clear, but I would like to make the argument, as do several of the authors in this issue, that focusing on social justice, on inquiry into practices, and on the ethical dilemmas teachers face in teacher education is essential in preparing teachers for the complexities of teaching in today's diverse classrooms and communities. [...] much of the help that parents provided was in the role of classroom instructional assistants, working with and for the teacher to get things done.