Teachers of Color Creating and Recreating Identities in Suburban Schools

Abstract

In this qualitative study, I explored the socialization experiences of eight teachers in two suburban high schools, and how they described their in - school identities. The findings from the study revealed how the participants constructed their identities differently for reasons that included wanting to deflect particular stereotypic images of their cultural/ethnic group or mitigating their own discomfort in revealing more private aspects of their core identities. The study offers implications for teacher education programs and the critical role that they play in preparing preservice teachers of color to work in suburban school settings, and in exposing all teacher candidates to diverse representations of teachers.

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

“…These findings mirror what V. Lee (2015) and Bettini et al (2021) found in terms of how Teachers of Color are not socialized to bring their whole identities into their predominantly white workspaces and the resulting discomfort and dissonance they feel. My findings also extend upon these findings by showing that when this discomfort is addressed directly and channeled into classroom DEI work, it can have powerful impacts for both Teachers of Color and their children.…”

“…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. Lee, 2015;Mabokela & Madsen, 2003), further highlighting how Teachers of Color have rarely, if ever, felt like they could bring their whole authentic selves into their work (Bettini et al, 2021) Researchers such as Gay (1999) and Sleeter (1996) have theorized different processes and practices Teachers of Color have undergone as they have constructed and reconstructed their identities in their schools.…”

“…facets of their selves are expressed in their in-school identities. In her exploratory qualitative study, V. Lee (2015) explored the racialized experiences that informed the identity construction of eight Teachers of Color in two suburban predominantly white high schools. Over the course of 4 months, V. Lee met with each of her participants on a weekly basis in a series of semistructured interviews.…”

“…V. Lee's findings also echoed Burant et al's (2002) findings of how Teachers of Color have often experienced a "Catch 22" in which they could neither prevent being type-casted based on their race nor avoid omnipresent reminders of their difference. V. Lee's (2015) study exemplified the unique challenges Teachers of Color in predominantly white institutions have navigated and how we often have not been socialized in ways that support our diverse identities.…”

“…It is important to note that I use the term binary here in a very expansive way. In my teacher research, I experienced a kind of binary in my struggle of deciding whether to support either my personal or my professional growth, highlighting an either/or mentality and a self-imposed tacit pressure to separate my personal identity from my professional identity rather than embracing how myself constituted multiple identities (Burant et al, 2002;V. Lee, 2015;Mabokela & Madsen, 2003).…”