"What's Grit Got to Do With It?" Challenging Hegemony and Positionally in Teacher Quality

• In Event: Roundtable Session 22
  In Roundtable Session: Racial Examinations of Educator Experiences

Abstract

Pronouncements about “highly qualified” educators ignore critical knowledge of race and racism as an indicator of quality despite research that reveals its importance to effective teaching. One of the consequences of race neutral ideology in teacher quality is in how it positions effective Black female educators (BFE). Aborting critical race knowledge from the teacher quality rubric positions effective BFEs in identity categories that reify controlling images of Black women. The purpose of this paper is to a) reveal the influence of colorblindness in teacher quality on the professional experiences of a group of exemplary BFEs, b) describe how such positionality contributes to the alienation and obfuscates factors foundational to their success, c) discuss the implications for educators.

Author

• Melanie M. Acosta, The University of Alabama