"I Put My Feelings Back in Their Box": (Re)Humanizing Case Study of a Multiply Marginalized Teacher

• In Event: (In)Between: Educators Navigating In Between Identities and Spaces

Abstract

This study conceptualizes the teaching profession as a white institutional space, embodying the oppressive ideologies that normalize white supremacy and racism. Drawing on conceptualizations of dehumanization and humanization/(re)humanization, this qualitative case study illustrates the inner tensions of an early-career, multiply-marginalized multiracial teacher that emerge from her own humanizing efforts, commitments, and identities being frequently at odds with the external dehumanizing forces and whiteness ideologies that undergird the teaching profession. Findings revealed the following major tensions, whether to (1) be present as her authentic self, and whether to (2) act on personal or institutional values. Implications for needed changes so that teachers of Color can sustain and thrive in the profession include (re)humanizing and holistic teacher support.

Author

• Faith Kwon, Stanford University
  Presenting Author