“Danger of a single story”: Pre-service teachers’ of color use of an online discussion board to discuss the essentialization of culture

Abstract

The current demographic gap that exists between a predominantly white and female teacher force and an increasing diverse K-12 student population has prompted a focus on the recruitment and retainment of teachers of color. These recruitment and retainment efforts at times come at “the expense of preparation” (Gist, 2014, p. 266). Further, education scholars have critiqued teacher education due to the exclusion of the voices and experiences of pre-service teachers of color (Sleeter & Thao, 2007; Takimoto Amos, 2016). With the goal of improving the preparation of pre-service teachers of color, this article offers a concrete pedagogical strategy to build on the cultural and linguistic resources of pre-service teachers of color. In addition, the authors discuss how pre-service teachers of color enrolled in Diversity in Education course responded to the TED Talk Danger of a Single Story (Adiche, 2009). In response to the prompt “What do you wish people really knew about your identity”, three themes were illuminated: 1 – Resisting Essentializing, and Racializing Discourses, 2 – Hybrid Identities, 3 – Solidarity, and Community Building. The authors discuss how constructivist learning and culturally responsive pedagogies should be utilized to build equitable teacher education programs for all pre-service teachers. Additionally, best practices, recommendations, and strategies are included for the use of the online discussion boards as productive sites for critical thought.

Finding My People and Finding Myself—How Kindergarten Teachers of Color Humanize Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Independent Schools

“…Thus far, the review of the literature has shown how research on DEI practices at independent schools could benefit from an examination of kindergarten teachers' and their (Gay, 1999;Sleeter, 1996) and the processes in which and how their identities have been expressed have always been done so with an acute awareness of how others have perceived them (Braunstein et al, 2021). Then, this subsection proceeds with a review of the literature illuminating what specific factors Teachers of Color have considered when constructing their in-school identities (Burant et al, 2002;V.…”

“…In their study, as an instructor of a diversity in education course for a teacher education program, Braunstein showed Ngozi Adichie's (2009) TED Talk Danger of a Single Story. Braunstein then asked her preservice students to share, via an online discussion board, what they wished others knew about their identity; these responses were later analyzed by Braunstein et al (2021). One of the themes that emerged from their findings was how preservice Teachers of Color felt their identities were often reduced to essentializing and racializing discourses in which their racial identities were misidentified or conflated with broader racial identity labels, or they were presumed to have been accepted into the program to fill an ethnic quota.…”

“…Other participants shared how they battled media portrayals of their ethnic group which dehumanized them through a series of harmful stereotypes. Another theme that arose from the responses was how Teachers of Color held what Braunstein et al (2021) termed as "hybrid identity" (p. 8). Hybrid identity can be understood as liminality in which facets of their identity and experiences intersect with others that further distance them from the norm.…”