Different Teachers Teaching Differently: Participatory Action Research, Teacher Diversity, and Transformative Teaching

• In Event: In and Out: Exploring the Role of Participatory Action Research in Classroom and Community Contexts

Abstract

Latinos/as and African Americans account for more than one-quarter of the U.S. population and more than one-third of all students enrolled in public schools, yet they represent less than 15% of all teachers nationally (National Center for Education Statistics, 2010). In contrast to the deepening racial/ethnic texture of the United States, the teaching force remains relatively homogenous, with the overwhelming majority of teachers identifying as White, middle-class, monolingual females. Although the benefits teachers of color bring to the classroom have been lauded in the research literature (Foster, 1991; Quiocho & Rios, 2000; Monzo & Rueda, 2001; Irvine, 2003; Dee, 2004; Villegas & Lucas, 2004; Ochoa, 2007; Irizarry, 2011), the pool of Latino/a and African American teachers remains woefully undernourished. This presentation draws from data collected as part of a three-year ethnographic study of 14 high school students who participated in Project FUERTE (Future Urban Educators conducting Research to transform Teacher Education), a multigenerational participatory action research collaborative, to critically examine how African American and Latino/a youth might more effectively be recruited into the teaching profession and prepared to transform schools so that they work in the best interests of their communities.

Using Critical Race Theory and Latino/a Critical Race Theory as analytical tools, this article documents how a group of African American and Latino/a high school students who were apathetic about the teaching profession modified their professional aspirations to consider education-related careers, including teaching, after engaging in a systematic, critical examination of the policies and practices that negatively impact the educational experiences and outcomes for urban youth of color. It highlights students’ evolving perceptions of teaching as an act of resistance and challenges oversimplified notions of teacher diversity that seek proportionate representation without preparing all teachers to challenge the social reproductive function of schools.

Author

• Jason G. Irizarry, University of Massachusetts - Amherst