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This paper brings together the storied experiences of a group of diverse scholars from Ghana, Uzbekistan, and the United States who use a collaborative autoethnographic lens to engage in the process of self-reflection/self-critique with respect to salient aspects of their identities (e.g., race, language, gender, socioeconomic status, and so forth). Each scholar also explores how her identity informs and influences her attitudes, behaviors, beliefs and actions with respect to the equitable enactment of her pedagogy and research. (Palmer, 2007, p. 2). KEYWORDSAs teachers and researchers, we have long known that our social identities 2 shape and impact our work-for better or worse (Anyon, 1980;Rist, 1970;Weis, Cipollone & Jenkins, 2014). Historically, scholars have studied identity development and its impact on our work as educators and researchers (e.g., Helms, 1990 (Goodman & Jackson, 2012, p. 218). Thus, our identities are fluid and dynamic. By constructing contexts whereby we engage in in-depth reflection, and thoughtful self-critique, we can cultivate new and more equitable and socially just identities. In short, we can examine and nurture positive change in the multiple "selves" that comprise our identities. This matters because engaging in the process of self-reflection/self-critique with an eye towards self-improvement can positively impact our work as educators and researchers and provide a foundation from which we work to foster equity in our teaching and research (Howard, 2016).This paper brings together the storied experiences of a group of diverse scholars from Ghana, Uzbekistan, and the United States, nested within the same university. We use a collaborative autoethnographic lens (e.g., Diversi & Moreira, 2009;Gale & Wyatt, 2009) to engage in the process of self-reflection/self-critique with respect to salient aspects of equity as integral to our identities. Here, individual scholars' self-reflexive vignettes are framed from different autoethnographic traditions. Each scholar explores aspects of her equity identity such as race, language, religion, gender, or socioeconomic status, and questions how identity may influence her attitudes, beliefs, and actions regarding pedagogy and research. The purpose of this paper is to illuminate ways in which different approaches to autoethnography can be used to interrogate the complex interplay of our identities with an eye towards understanding and promoting equity in education. This paper is divided into four major sections. First, we discuss the nature of our collaboration. Second, we articulate the conception of equity we use to frame and critique our individual stories.Third, we present five identity/equity vignettes, highlighting our distinct autoethnographic approaches. Finally, we explore how our individual identity/equity vignettes might inform (a) our future individual and collective work, and (b) the field of education, in general, and literacy education, in particular. This kind of reflexive work matters because educators and researchers a...

This autoethnographic poetic inquiry presents childhood and adulthood experiences of a silenced life that navigated the journey through silence into the world of speech. Using poetry to retell and relive these experiences creates the metaphor and the imagery into my world, thereby offering reflexivity, aestheticism, meaning, and hope. The two poems represent the stages of my life while I carry the reader along my passing years in a chronological manner. I invite the reader to enjoy, reflect, and interpret this poetry bearing in mind the broken shackles of the silenced voice.

In this study, I examined the English language needs of 73 Francophone students who enrolled to pursue their undergraduate degree in an English as a Second Language context. The setting for this case study was a private university in Ghana. The focus of this study addresses an important gap in the literature on meeting the needs of francophone undergraduate students. The participants in this study were French-speaking students who mostly lived and learned in French-speaking countries prior to their arrival in Ghana; thus, their language needs differed from those of Ghanaian students who typically learn in English over the course of their educational careers. Due to the disjuncture of these Francophone participants’ previous educational and lived experiences with the English language, I investigated the relevance of the available English language courses to their academic and career needs.  Data collection took the form of a questionnaire and interviews, for the purpose of eliciting information about participants’ demography, language skills, and tasks relevant to their academics and future careers. In addition, the participants provided interview responses describing their reasons for learning in an English medium university. Findings indicate that Francophone ESL undergraduate students ascribe varying degrees of relevance and importance to English courses, and these reported differences in perceived relevance cohere with participants’ varying academic and career goals and needs.