"Sexism Endured — Racism Imposed": Intersectional Barriers Within the Early Care and Education Workforce Toward Realizing Critical Truths

• In Event: Seeking Truth Through an Authentic Understanding of Teachers' Lived Experiences

Abstract

Purpose
There are places in our educational system where we fail to look for truths; we fail to notice the narratives of critical partners and allies. From what evidence do we construct our position on understanding and working with teachers? Education systems train teachers to serve children and families, we then observe their effectiveness. Train-Serve-Observe. These are tenets of behaviorist, male-dominant systems designed to keep women and people of color subservient. TRUTH – 97% of ECE educators in the U.S. are women and over 80% are white[1]. One of the most significant barriers towards realizing a critical conceptualization of justice in ECE, is the intersectionality of ‘sexism endured’ and ‘racism imposed’ by the workforce. Until education research interrogates the sexism and exploitation of women in the ECE workforce, we will not get further in combating the racism they impose towards children and families of color.
Theoretical Framework and Methods
The present qualitative study critically explored the nuanced lived experiences of sixteen public school educators (predominantly suburban, white middle-class women) and their relationships with students and families (primarily Black and Brown living in impoverished urban communities) in the context of COVID-19 lockdown in NYC. This study was nested within a larger NYU study (N=80 pre-Kindergarten programs in high-poverty neighborhoods) of NYC’s Thrive professional development program.
Considering women's dominance in ECE, our interview methodology leveraged Self-in-Relation theory[2,3], grounded in Feminist frameworks[4], to examine the extent to which pre-Kindergarten teachers were exploited, as essential workers, to care for students’ while managing personal stressors[5,6]. Utilizing a lens of Critical Whiteness Studies[7-9], we explored teachers’ identity awareness. The Five Awarenesses of Teaching framework[10,11], guided our study design, analysis, and interpretation of findings. A multi-phase, iterative and reflexive process[12] was used for thematic analysis to enhance trustworthiness[13] (Table 1).
As part of the methodological approach the researcher shares her positionality as a brown-skinned Latina and pre-K mother, enduring teacher’s micro/macro aggressions during the interview process[14]. Reflexivity will be showcased through descriptions of her beliefs, judgements and practices throughout the research process[15].
Findings
Findings identified four themes: (1) societal and self-imposed expectations of women, (2) loss of classroom norms dismantling teacher-student relationship and teacher’s self-identity, (3) impact of past and present crises on teachers’ mental health and wellness, and (4) White teacher as superhero: a modern iteration of White savior- a dominant conceptualization of justice often overshadowing teachers’ entitlements and lack of identity awareness.
Engaging in reflexivity identified patterns whereby the researcher focused on (a) different motivators for teaching Black and Brown children between White teachers (i.e. superhero) and teachers of color (i.e. preventing systemic harm) and (b) deficit models of minoritized children and families.
Significance
Bolstering critical perspectives within policy, practice and research requires scholars to (re)envision methodological approaches to authentically understand ECE educators’ identities. To embody this, workforce research should be grounded in trauma-informed, feminist and antiracist frameworks. Engaging these intersectional lenses reveals the interplay of sexism and racism within the experiences of ECE educators, and the women and scholars of color studying them.

Author

• Vanessa Rodriguez, New York University
  Presenting Author