Developing Asset-Talk through Participation in Ethnoracial Affinity Spaces for Catholic School Teachers of Color

• In Event: Parochialism in Catholic Education Pipelines, Recruitment, and Retention: Interrogating and Repairing Social Capital That Marginalizes

Abstract

Theoretical Framing
To overcome the parochialism discouraging teachers of color (ToC) from remaining in Catholic schools (Noonan & Bristol, 2020; Ospino & Wyttenbach, 2022), research suggests that ToC benefit from particular conditions of support. One condition consists of ethnoracial affinity groups, spaces where ToC regularly gather to forge social and professional connections (Pour-Khorshid, 2018). Another condition includes support for practicing culturally relevant pedagogies (CRP; Ladson-Billings, 2009), which centers learning opportunities on the cultural knowledge that students of color and ToC bring to the classroom. Importantly, to practice CRP, Pollock (2017) suggests that teachers need to develop an asset orientation – a disposition that (a) values what students of color already know and can do and (b) orients teachers toward critical self-reflection when student learning struggles occur. In schools where ToC lack opportunities for professional collaboration and/or are discouraged from practicing CRP (Felix, 2022), ToC can succumb to deficit views of students and professional disillusionment, which are associated with higher rates of attrition for ToC (Aldana, 2016; Gist, 2017).

Objective
In response, our study explores the following research question: How can Catholic school ToC collectively develop an understanding of and adherence to an asset orientation, specifically within the context of an ethnoracial affinity group?

Methods & Data
To address this question, five Catholic school ToC (see Table 1) participated in an ethnoracial affinity space, which consisted of weekly reflective dialogues known as Freirian culture circles (c.f., Souto-Manning, 2010). The structure of culture circles invited participants to explore problems of practice through critical self-reflection. These meetings took place within a year-long practicum course taught by Author1. Author1 partnered with affinity group members to engage in critical research methodology (Morrell, 2009), collectively gathering qualitative data that aimed to address the research question (see Table 2). Authors1-3 employed a “funneling” analysis, examining the data over multiple rounds of inductive and deductive coding (Saldaña, 2016; see Table 3).

Results
Our analysis revealed that within the ethnoracial affinity spaces, members developed a particular style of discussing students we termed “asset-talk.” Members’ asset-talk were characterized by several distinctive features: First, the teachers humanized students even when discussing classroom struggles: They noted areas for students to “grow even stronger” in, avoided blaming students, and often tied struggles to underlying societal inequities. Second, before discussing classroom challenges, members first affirmed student strengths and often spoke about students in religious terms (e.g., referring to students as “blessings”). Third, the teachers problematized deficit comments made by school colleagues and discussed strategies for helping students “dig out [their] internalized deficit” views of themselves. Finally, the teachers engaged in consistent critical self-reflection across culture circle discussions, written reflections, and post-observational conferences. Asking themselves, “What more can I do to help this student? How can I teach differently for them?” members owned classroom challenges as opportunities for professional growth.

Significance
This study suggests that members’ asset-talk in affinity spaces shaped their reflection on students, which in turn bolstered their enactment of CRP, thus providing evidence of one pathway for supporting ToC in Catholic schools.

References included in full proposal submission.

Authors

• John L. Beltramo, Santa Clara University

• Marie Rodrigues, Santa Clara University

• Dominique Salapare, Santa Clara University