“The police don’t keep people safe”: The abolitionist becoming of Latina pre-service teachers

As the scholarship on abolition in teacher education continues to grow, much of this work remains theoretical and does not examine pre-service teachers’ understanding of prison and police abolition. The lack of empirical research has limited how teacher educators might begin to prepare and support future teachers in developing and enacting an abolitionist commitment and practice. In this article, I present findings from a qualitative study that explores what I term the abolitionist becoming of Latina pre-service teachers. Drawing on abolitionist journey maps and interviews, my findings illustrate how participants’ personal and professional K-16 schooling experiences informed their abolitionist becoming. This study contributes to a growing body of scholarship on abolition in teacher education and provides insights into the preparation and support of pre-service teachers through an abolitionist perspective.