Critical Teacher Autoethnography: Stories of Hope and Possibility

• In Event: Ethnic Studies in Teacher Preparation: Programmatic and Cultural Shifts Supporting Ethnic Studies Teacher Development

Abstract

Objective
Designed as a two-year program, candidates in this Teacher Education Program earn a preliminary credential in the first year. During the second year, candidates work as full-time teachers and complete a Master’s degree. At the same time candidates are learning how to meet the demands and tension of being first year teachers, they also research and write a Teacher Inquiry Project (TIP). In the Fall of 2018, the TIP was redesigned as a Critical Teacher Autoethnography project in order to explicitly support candidates in the Ethnic Studies pathway.

Theoretical Framework
Drawing from Teacher Research (Cochran-Smith & Lytle, 1993), Critical Bicultural Theory (Darder, 2012), and Autoethnography (Ellis, Adams, and Bochner, 2011); Critical Teacher Autoethnography is a research and writing approach that uses reflective self-observation to examine teaching, learning, and schooling carried out by teachers with the intent of challenging school inequality. The approach seeks to capture the experiences and reflections of first year teachers of color by centering their and students’ voices in the text, creating a narrative written as a story, and identifying epiphanies and/or dramatic tensions that include action, dialogue and emotion. Written over three quarters, each section focused on addressing specific and interrelated questions. Fall quarter - What has made me into the ethnic studies teacher I am today? How do my students’ identities and experiences help me understand my identity and pedagogy as an ethnic studies teacher? Winter quarter - What does ethnic studies look when applied to the teaching of a unit and working with a specific group of students? Spring quarter- What did I learn about my ethnic studies pedagogy while teaching the unit? What impact did the unit have on students? Based on what I learned, what advice do I give to a first-year ethnic studies teacher?

Methods
Seventeen Critical Teacher Autoethnographies from the 2018-2019 academic year were examined using grounded theory in order to identify patterns in the challenges they faced in their first year of teaching, how they integrated ethnic studies pedagogy into the curriculum and what changes they identified in their classrooms at the end of the year.

Results & Significance
Initial findings indicate that Critical Teacher Autoethnography not only helped the teachers successfully navigate the complexities and challenges of their first year working in an urban school but also 1). realigned their ethnic studies philosophies with their pedagogy, 2). centered the lived experiences of students of color in the curriculum and 3). transformed their classrooms into loving and democratic spaces. This study has implications for how graduate programs might support new teachers in developing their reflective practice, research skills, and praxis while also honoring their unique perspectives, experiences, and backgrounds as ethnic studies teachers.

Authors

• Eduardo Frutos Lopez, University of California - Los Angeles

• Sharim Hannegan-Martinez, University of Kentucky