Resilience of a Black Woman: Journey through the Racial Mismatch Land of Supervision

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Thursday 7:45 am - Gold 2
  In Roundtable Session: Self-Study as Acumen for Advancing Teacher Education Practices: Cultivating a Path of Empowerment within Supervision

Abstract

Purpose
As a Black female associate instructor and Faculty in Residence, with a background rooted in urban communities in the Southern United States, I was raised in a household where my mother, aunt, and uncle collectively nurtured me, my brother, and my cousins. I developed a profound appreciation for community, respect, and hard work. As an educator with 16 years of teaching experience in urban elementary schools and a predominantly White university, I am committed to ensuring that all students receive an equitable and empowering educational experience. I focus on my journey of examining the interplay between interns' personal backgrounds and their teacher preparation experiences to understand how these factors contribute to their proficiency in culturally responsive teaching and self-efficacy in educating Black elementary students.

Mode of Inquiry and Perspective
Through self-study, my passion for preparing teachers to develop cultural awareness and equitable teaching practices has led me to take risks and create spaces with my candidates and mentor teachers to have difficult conversations. I worked closely with school administrators and teachers where I placed my candidates, striving to cultivate environments that encouraged examining cultural differences and understanding their impact on everyone.
● I use my background as a former elementary classroom teacher and mentor teacher to make connections with my teacher candidates. I co-teach lessons while acknowledging cultural barriers which provide opportunities to work on developing lessons and providing feedback while engaging in self-reflection activities. Having candidates be involved in this type of relationship makes it easier for me to model, discuss, and provide feedback on creating meaningful, valuable, and relevant lessons for the students (Gay, 2018; Shevalier & McKenzie, 2012).
● I still encounter challenges with candidates being receptive to information as they argue with my approach to instruction and grading. The dynamic of the environment was difficult to navigate initially, as I was the only Black person in the elementary teacher preparation program. These experiences have prompted deep reflection on my practices and beliefs, especially since my colleagues did not encounter the same responses.
● Some of the conversations with candidates have put me in uncomfortable situations, not because of the titles I held, but because of being a Black woman in a predominantly white institution. As a Black woman, I felt the need to be cautious about what I said, how I said things, and to whom I said them.

Conclusions and Significance
My work is driven by a dedication to fostering an inclusive and effective learning environment for all students. The relationships, transparency, and vulnerability I have intentionally fostered have made this work more manageable to navigate, even though there were still moments when I feared repercussions for my approach. According to Porter et al. (2020), due to the negative implications that intersectionality has on Black women’s careers in higher education, we are continually learning how to navigate our positionality in these spaces.

Author

• Jeania Jones, University of North Florida