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Bluesky
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Objectives: This presentation aims to describe the findings from a critical autoethnography of Critical Professional Development (CPD) designed to meet the social justice needs of experienced teachers (Kohli, 2019) located in the Black Belt district of the United States, where teachers navigate the geo-political context in educational spaces (Albright et al., 2023). Research was embedded in professional development programming to facilitate iterative changes, addressing the contextual challenges that impact teacher retention and peer support (Austin & Hickey, 2007). However, resistance from the professional development team impeded these research-based iterative changes. Tensions arose in meetings where research was shared to make the changes. The blues tradition was used as a lens to understand how the geo-political context created tensions that played out in the CPD and the research share backs. This autoethnographic study has implications for CPD design focused on racial justice, teacher retention, and addressing teacher needs, particularly when serving large populations of Black youth. Following the research question: "How does the geo-socio-historico-politico context of place play out in the CPD and research share backs?" This presentation reveals challenges and opportunities in implementing CPD in such contexts.
Theoretical Framework: Critical autoethnography with a blues lens was used to analyze the researcher’s experience sharing research for iterative change in CPD programming. The Blues tradition emphasizes the historical, geographical, and cultural knowledge of marginalized Black communities (Woods 1998), which constitute 72.2% of the student population affected by the CPD (APS).
Methods: This study is part of a larger critical ethnography (Madison, 2011) examining how liberatory, racial justice-centered teacher education for experienced educators is occurring. During fieldwork, the researcher collected field notes, jottings, research memos, and reflective notes. Additionally, audio recordings of research share back meetings were transcribed. Data was analyzed collectively.
Data & Analysis: During the 2023 – 2024 programming year, the researcher attended 72 hours of professional development and 4 hours of research share back meetings. Data analysis was ongoing. Researcher experiences were preliminarily analyzed in the field through writing inquiry (Richardson & St Pierre, 2005). In thematic analysis, emerging codes were aligned with the Blues Tradition of knowing (Davis 1998, Jones 1963, Woods 1998, Author 2020) and Blues theory (Garon 1975) to explain the tensions as elements of blues harmonies.
Findings: Blues provided a framework for understanding the tensions that interfered with iterative change in CPD. Blues harmony is the foundation of blues music; a 12-bar sequence with a short repetitive musical phrase (blues riff) where tension is created and eventually released (Curry, 2015). Tensions between the direction, goals, and facilitation of the CPD erupted reflecting the local political context.
Significance: This research demonstrates the resistance of professional development culture to iterative, research-based changes may be influenced by the geo-political context. The findings have significant implications for iterative research designs and evidence-based approaches to CPD, highlighting the need for CPD programs to account for local contexts affecting teacher development.