"We need you to hear us:" The emotional labor of teachers of Color in DLBE

• In Event: Promoting Sociocultural Competence and Critical Consciousness in Dual Language Bilingual Education Programs

Abstract

Recent research has demonstrated that many racial and linguistic inequities exist in dual language bilingual education (DLBE) programs (Cervantes-Soon et al., 2017). Less research has examined how these dynamics impact teachers, particularly teachers of Color, and their everyday experiences in DLBE programs. The objective of this study was to investigate the following questions: How do early career bilingual teachers of Color experience inequities in Portland Public Schools? And, how are they impacted by these inequities?

Conceptualizing emotions as knowledge, I link the emotional reactions of teachers to their critical consciousness of ongoing inequities (Author, 2023). I also draw on an understanding of emotional labor as related to racial and linguistic identity. For teachers of Color in DLBE, emotional labor is frequently invisibilized contributing to teacher exhaustion and burnout (Amanti, 2019). These perspectives support the analysis of both teachers' experiences and the impacts of these experiences.

This paper is drawn from a critical, qualitative study that followed a group of 6, multilingual teachers of Color over 2 years. The study began when teachers were in their second year of their teacher preparation program, and continued through the year following their graduation. All teachers were in their early career, and worked in schools with DLBE programs. The study utilized ongoing critical reflection group meetings, observations in the teacher preparation program and in elementary classrooms, individual interviews, and collaborative analysis of shared conversations.

In this presentation, I focus on the case of one participant: Clarissa, who self-identified as Hispanic and bilingual. Data sources include four, recorded semi-structured interviews with Clarissa, notes from informal conversations, field notes of observations and recordings from two critical reflection group meetings.

Clarissa worked in a school district with predominantly white staff. This district experienced staffing cuts, while also working to sustain and potentially expand the DLBE program. Clarissa experienced backlash from White colleagues and was forced to engage in additional emotional labor to navigate their reactions. I highlight her experiences in order to demonstrate the impacts of this added emotional labor and its invisibilization. I argue that an awareness of the ways that racism shapes emotional labor is important in efforts to promote equity for teachers of Color in DLBE.

This study has significant implications for research on emotions and emotional labor and their connections to racial and linguistic injustice. Results are particularly relevant to DLBE programs working to promote critical consciousness and racial equity.

Author

• Rachel Snyder Bhansari, Portland State University