Rejection of and Ejection From Dominant Discourses: Autoethnographic Explorations of Critical Teacher Identity During the COVID-19 Pandemic

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Saturday 5:10 pm Four Seasons Ballroom 4
  In Roundtable Session: Educators' Experiences Through the Pandemic (Table 6)

Abstract

This autoethnography explores the ways in which I enacted my identity as a critical educator and advocate during the 2020-2021 school year and how I came into contact with, rejected, and was (r)ejected by dominant Discourses in a district with a reputation for its Whiteness, insularity, political conservatism, and wealth. Drawing on a postructuralist conceptualization of identity and the concept of Discourses, I consider how my identity enactments as a critical educator and advocate were at odds with a dominant Discourse that valued teacher compliance, silence, and maintenance of the status quo. I also examine how these experiences, which culminated with my resignation from my teaching position, influenced the (re)negotiation of my teacher identity.

Author

• Talia A. Howard Hanna, University of Texas - San Antonio