Supporting Catholic School Teachers of Color Through Participation in Freireian Culture Circles

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  In Roundtable Session: Research Supporting Professionals in Catholic Education (Table 7)

Abstract

As Catholic schools seek to recruit and retain more ethnoracially diverse faculties, we examine one potential site – Freirian culture circles – as potential supports for teachers of color working in Catholic education. Through multiple sources of ethnographic data collection, we studied five teachers of color who engaged in weekly culture circle meetings over five months and explored their experiences through a Catholic, critical framework on teacher education. We found that engagement in culture circles helped participants strengthen their asset views of students, form trusted bonds of community with one another, and critically reflect on their professional and racialized identities.

Authors

• John L. Beltramo, Santa Clara University

• Lisa Teresa Archuleta, Stanford University