Let’s Get Critical: Leveraging Abolitionist Teaching to Expand Narrative Inquiry

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Sunday 9:50 am Four Seasons Ballroom 2-3
  In Roundtable Session: Pedagogy and Innovative Practices (Table 1)

Abstract

This paper presents a narrative inquiry that examines the impact of institutionalized oppression on professional knowledge. Through the lens of abolitionist teaching (Love, 2019), I provide an autobiographical account of my experience implementing a children’s picture book unit designed to decenter whiteness in a diverse secondary creative writing class. In this narrative, I draw attention to the seemingly inevitable feelings of unease that arise from teaching against the grain of systemic injustice. I argue that critical awareness during these moments of unease can provide opportunities to remedy inequality, repair harm, and renew education.

Author

• Bradley Sullivan, University of Oregon