The Trajectory of the Invisible Teacher: Latinx Teachers in Search of Professional Belonging

• In Event: Retaining Teachers of Color: Major Considerations and Approaches

Abstract

This qualitive case study documents the trajectory of 10 Latinx teachers as they navigate the rugged landscape from student teaching, induction, early career and mid-career development, to decisions about staying in the profession. Much research to date has focused on urban settings where the experiences of teachers of color (TOCs) are contrasted with those of their White counterparts. This study is set against the backdrop of Midwest rural communities, in which administrator and teacher populations continue to be predominantly White, despite diverse community and learner demographics.

The study participants were deeply rooted in their communities of practice, having attended and graduated from local schools. They were bound by having attended a predominately White university, as part of a unique teacher recruitment and preparation program that focused on building restorative identity, cultivating an understanding of the oppressive social milieu that permeated their socialization, and challenging them to revisit the role of identity in advocacy for culturally and linguistically diverse students and families.

This chapter addresses the need for research that focuses on how TOCs who return to their own communities to teach are perceived, received, and nurtured towards staying in their schools and the larger profession. Data were collected through an open-ended survey and participant interviews. Analysis of resulting counterstories yielded insights into factors that influence Latinx teacher retention.

Findings revealed three primary themes. First, in their experiences in predominantly White institutions, Latinx teachers’ self-perceptions as skilled teachers who brought a wealth of cultural assets were rarely validated. Instead, they were often perceived from a deficit perspective, in which even their bilingualism was viewed as a failure to reflect norms of the dominant English-speaking school context. The microaggressions participants experienced frequently led them to feel “less than” as future and practicing teachers.

A second theme related to the perception among participants of being rendered invisible in their professional settings. Beyond the lack of TOC representation in their workplaces, participants experienced hurdles to their being able to fully maximize their pedagogical knowledge and skills. At times, they also strategically chose a path of reduced visibility to ensure advocacy messages were actually received by predominantly White staff, or to protect themselves from negative repercussions of speaking out.
A third theme surrounded the Latinx teachers’ efforts to resist being made invisible. In various ways participants pushed back, spoke up, or advocated on behalf of the students in their care. Such actions frequently pointed to the significant role of administrators in creating (in)equity for both teachers and students. The larger goal of achieving equitable educational opportunities for culturally and linguistically diverse students and ensuring responsive communication and interactions with their families fueled the participants’ persistence, despite the multitude of challenges.

The study findings have ramifications for Latinx teacher retention—a point highlighted by the reality that three of the 10 participating educators no longer teach in the district schools of their rural communities. The authors provide recommendations for colleges of teacher education and K-12 public school systems, along with needed directions of future research.

Authors

• Socorro Herrera, Kansas State University

• Kevin G. Murry, Kansas State University

• Melissa Ann Holmes, Kansas State University