Community as Resistance and Rebellion for Aspiring Teachers of Color

• In Event: Cultivating Teachers of Color: Culturally and Linguistically Affirming Programs and Spaces, Research, and Racial Justice

Abstract

Objective
California’s persistent teacher shortages, particularly among teachers of Color (ToC) and multilingual teachers in high-need rural and semi-rural areas, have prompted institutional investments to foster educators who better reflect students’ racial, cultural, and linguistic backgrounds (Darling-Hammond et al., 2018; CDE, 2021a, 2021b). However, aspiring ToC are establishing their own networks for mutual support and encouragement. This study examines the protective benefits of participating in one such network at a historically White institution, exploring three phases of the teacher education pipeline: undergraduates, pre-service credential students, and early-career teachers.

Theoretical Framework
Previous research suggests building teacher networks (Ritchie, 2012), creating critical affinity groups (Bristol et al., 2020; Pour-Khorshid, 2018), and engaging in critical interracial dialogue (Kohli, 2012) are all potential solutions for aspiring ToC in mitigating institutional challenges. These strategies empower students to reject racial hierarchies, imagine new beginnings (Harney & Moten, 2013; Stovall, 2018), and cultivate strong interpersonal support (Gilkes Borr, 2019; Peña, 2022).

We use a community cultural wealth framework (Yosso, 2005, 2013) and draw from critical race theory (Delgado & Stefancic, 2001; Solorzano & Bernal, 2001) to challenge deficit framing of ToC and highlight the multiple forms of accumulated assets and resources they use to navigate higher education and careers in education. This framing lifts up how these participants engage with the world on their journeys as teachers while exposing racism and intersecting oppression they have endured and overcome (Huber, 2009a, 2009b).

Methods & Data Sources
Over the course of 2022-2023, we used a pláticas methodology (Fierros & Delgado Bernal, 2016) to conduct a series of story circles with group members in open and structured conversation to identify emergent themes and long-term impacts the network generates. As both authors/researchers are faculty advisors for the student network, we applied a teacher-action research methodology (Herr & Anderson, 2005; Pine, 2008). Student research assistants drawn from the network were empowered through principles of participatory action research (Camarrota & Fine, 2008) as they engaged in data collection, analysis, writing, and presenting research findings.

Results
In sharing their individual and collective stories, members of the Educators of Color club described how the group had fostered a sense of belonging, counteracted the pervasive exclusionary dynamics in their undergraduate degree program, and offered critical support in navigating credential programs and entering the profession. Shared and mutually replenished resilience helped expand their own processes of racial identity development, challenge biases and stereotypes encountered from their curriculum, instructors, and learning environments, and advocate for equity and justice for themselves and their future students.

Significance
This research contributes to the literature on mutual support networks by demonstrating how such networks shape the learning journeys of aspiring and early career ToC. It highlights the intersectionality of race, language, and immigration status in teachers' navigation and success within the education pipeline. While research on ToC is often urban-focused (Bristol & Shirrell, 2019; Villegas & Clewell, 1998), this project focuses on teacher preparation in high-need rural and semi-rural communities (Villagómez et al., 2016), contributing to the knowledge in this area.

Authors

• Tina Cheuk, California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo

• Amanda Frye, California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo