Mindful resistance: Utilizing textual critical friends to (re)establish our footings amid a polycrisis

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Saturday 9:45 am - Gold 2
  In Roundtable Session: Critical Friendships and Collaboration: Self-Study Journeys of Friendship, Dialogue, and Resistance

Abstract

Prompted by the uniquely tumultuous state of education in the United States at this time, three self-study teacher education researchers collaboratively sought strategies to mindfully resist the onslaught of uncertainty and change. While each faced distinct circumstances, they engaged in weekly zoom meetings, individual journaling, and collaborative reading to rediscover and refine their purpose as teacher educators, engaging in actions counter to their former compulsion to acquiesce to the institutional demands. Initial findings evidence the frameworks each has chosen to utilize as touchstones. Collectively, they have committed to being more present, attentive, and mindful in the upcoming year as they navigate the dismantling of educational systems they had previously experienced.

Authors

• Laura C. Haniford, University of New Mexico

• Laurie A. Ramirez, Appalachian State University

• Valerie A. Allison, Susquehanna University