Teaching Diversity: A Vulnerable Opportunity for a Teacher Educator

• In Event: Using Self-Study to Interrogate Diversity and Inequity

Abstract

This article reports on a two-year self-study exploring my roles and evolving philosophy as an early childhood teacher educator teaching diversity in the U.S. I was interested in better understanding how and what I can learn from the complexity of my teaching experiences. Data included my professional journals, students’ reflection journals, course materials, feedback from students, and communication with critical friends. I examined, when teaching diversity, how I constructed and navigated my roles, how the students constructed and perceived my roles, and how those have reshaped my instructional philosophy and practices. The findings suggested that teaching diversity in the U.S. as a ‘perceived outsider’ was a vulnerable opportunity for me to construct, navigate, and transform my instructional roles and philosophy.

Author

• H. Sophia Han, University of South Florida