Life Ain't Been No Crystal Stair: An African American Educator's Journey Against Whiteness

• In Event: 30.049 - Moving From Knowledge to Action: Using Self-Excavation to Advance Equitable Educational Opportunities

Abstract

Objectives or purposes
This paper is part of a collaborative project with three other researchers that focuses on the importance of self-excavation for educators in order to create more equitable educational policies and practices for diverse students. This paper will highlight how engaging in self-excavation has influenced my role as a teacher educator and how this process has revealed important aspects of my racial identity development.

Theoretical framework
In U.S. classrooms, students are becoming increasingly diverse, but the teaching force remains predominantly White, female, and middle class (Howard, 2006; Leonardo & Boas, 2013). Many teachers are teaching students who come from racial, cultural, and linguistic backgrounds that are completely different from their own. The lens of Whiteness is pervasive in U.S. schools and contributes to inequitable instructional practices and educational policies that negatively affect students of color (Howard, 2006; Leonardo & Boas, 2013). In order to address inequities in education, teachers need examine their assumptions and experiences regarding race and engage in self-excavation, or “inner work” related to their racial identities (Howard, 2006). Howard (2006) argues that the inner work that leads to personal transformation is missing in teacher preparation.

Methods
The primary method used for this paper is Scholarly Personal Narrative (SPN). SPN is a methodology that integrates scholarship and personal stories to make connections to universal themes (Nash & Bradley, 2011). The SPN reveals my process of self-excavation as I reflect on how my personal and professional experiences have been influenced by Whiteness and racism. The narrative will also serve as a form of counterstorytelling (DeCuir-Gunby & Walker-DeVose, 2013). Critical race theorists use counterstorytelling as a tool to expose and challenge racial privilege and demonstrate that “the stories of marginalized groups can be used to help to create change” (DeCuir-Gunby & Walker-DeVose, 2013, p. 252).

Data sources
My data source is the Scholarly Personal Narrative that I will be presenting during the symposium.

Results
My Scholarly Personal Narrative reveals that I have spent much of my life trying to battle Whiteness and racism by serving as a counternarrative to the dominant narrative that depicts African Americans as being unintelligent, lazy, and inferior to Whites. I have often felt the burden of being a “credit to my race” and the need to “prove myself” in many situations. Over time, I have progressed in my racial identity development and have become more confident in challenging the norms of Whiteness in my personal relationships and professional settings.

Scholarly significance
Teacher education has been sorely lacking in providing resources for teachers engage in self-excavation, and the Framework for Culturally Responsive Self-Excavation is an important contribution to the research literature related to preparing teachers to work with diverse students. The narrative presented in this paper will provide insights from a longtime African American educator about the challenges that African Americans face in schools and larger society and will encourage teachers to explore their own racial histories and identities.

Author

• Tiffany Renee Wheeler, Transylvania University