#LearningContext&Power: Black Women Educators' Use of Virtual Educator Affinity Groups

• In Event: Arts Education and Imagination: Intersectional Narratives of Black Women Educators

Abstract

Studying the experiences of Black women educators provides a unique opportunity to explore their positioned intersectionality of gender and race, especially given their percentage of representation within the Black teaching workforce in the United States. Using a Critical Race Theory framework informed by intersectionality and counterstorytelling, this explanatory sequential mixed methods study analyzed the relationship between racialized hostility experienced at work and the learning experiences within virtual educator affinity groups. The counterstories of Black women educators indicated how they perceived interpersonal power affecting their learning within these two varied contexts. Data collected (survey, semi-structured interviews, and a focus group) revealed counterstories that indicate Black women educators use virtual affinity groups as spaces for safety, support, relatability, learning, and sharing expertise.

Author

• Mia H. Kirk, Montclair State University
  Presenting Author