Investigating Urban Teachers' Intersectional Identities and Commitment to Teaching in the Context of Dual Pandemics

• In Event: Fairmont Roundtable Session Nine
  In Roundtable Session: "Why Teach?" Exploring Teachers' Motivations and Commitments to Teaching in Cross-Cultural Settings (Table 13)

Abstract

This study examines how 50 current and former urban educators make sense of their identities and how those understandings inform their practice and career decisions. Interviews, conducted in the summer of 2020, revealed that participants’ (intersectional) identities were salient to their motivations for teaching, unexpected challenges and opportunities in building relationships with students, perceptions of teaching and other roles, and their career decisions. The dual pandemics of covid-19 and systemic racism spurred some participants’ critical reflections on their teaching practices and sensemaking about their current or future career paths. By centering teachers’ and former teachers’ perspectives on their own careers and intersectional identities, this study aligns with this year’s theme of conducting humanizing, opportunity-centered, and impactful research.

Author

• Naomi Blaushild, American Institutes for Research
  Presenting Author