“Being Unapologetically Myself”: Black Women Teachers’ Identity Negotiation Around Their Psychological Needs Within White Spaces

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Sunday 1:30 pm Four Seasons Ballroom 1
  In Roundtable Session: Synthesizing Multiple Critical Perspectives on Teaching (Table 13)

Abstract

Black women teachers lie at the intersection of multiple systems of oppression due to their race and gender, resulting in microaggressions and macroaggressions within white spaces. We explore how Black women teachers negotiate their intersecting, marginalized social identities with their teacher identity while attempting to satisfy their basic needs of autonomy, competence, and relatedness. Applying critical narrative inquiry to the interviews of 16 Black women teachers showcased different stories with common threads of resistance, social justice advocacy, and centering belongingness. For example, teachers’ abilities to orchestrate experiences and connections that supported their basic needs allowed them to be their authentic selves feeling fully actualized as teachers. This study provides insights to better support marginalized teachers in psychologically healthy ways.

Authors

• Ji Y. Hong, University of Arizona

• Dionne Cross Francis, University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill

• Jing Zhao, Educational Psychology

• Soojeong Lee, University of Arizona

• Travis Jon Dean, University of Arizona

• Paul A. Schutz, University of Arizona