Teachers of Color Teaching During Contentious Times

• In Event: Learning, Living, and Teaching in Dual Pandemic: Experiences of Minoritized K–12 Educational Stakeholders

Abstract

Purpose
The purpose of this presentation is to illuminate the ideological commitments of teachers of color and their professional and social school-based experiences during contentious times, namely the COVID-19 pandemic and moments of racial upheaval. In particular, this study analyzes how teachers of color evoke their ideological commitments via action, such as in their curriculum and instruction at the classroom level, and in their organizing and activism at the school site level. We demonstrate how teachers of color engage with different school stakeholders (i.e., students, families, and colleagues) and the supports and barriers teachers of color encounter in seeking to evoke their ideological commitments. The authors present findings related to the internal, interpersonal, and institutional supports and barriers for teachers of color working toward racial justice during contentious times.

Theoretical framework
Various scholars (Kohli, 2016; Pizzaro & Kohli, 2018) find that teachers of color with racial justice commitments often endure racially hostile professional and social school-based experiences. There is also a growing body of research focused on the experiences of teachers during contentious times, such as the Donald Trump election and presidency (Payne & Journell, 2019; Sondel et al., 2018) and state-sanctioned murder against Black people (Baker-Bell et al., 2014; Fasching-Varner et al., 2014). We bridge these two areas of study as we explore the experiences of teachers of color with racial justice commitments, to analyze how COVID-19 and moments of racial upheaval influenced their interactions with students, families, and colleagues, and to explore the implications on teacher ideology and action.

Data sources
This study is based on four, two hour long virtual focus-group interviews with 12 teachers of color from across the United States conducted throughout the 2020-2021 academic year. Data were analyzed using discourse analytic methods.

Results
Findings indicate various forms of (dis)connection between teachers of color and other school stakeholders (i.e., students, families, and colleagues) in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and moments of racial upheaval. The (dis)connection between teachers of color and different school stakeholders is apparent in the curriculum and instruction at the classroom level, and in the organizing and activism at the school site level. The study demonstrates how teachers identify, navigate, and refute various internal, interpersonal, and institutional barriers to their work, as well as moments of tension and complacency when encountering these barriers.

Scholarly significance

While scholars have investigated the professional and social school-based experiences of teachers of color and the experiences of teachers during contentious times, respectively, this study merges the two areas of inquiry. In addition, in response to COVID-19 and moments of racial upheaval in recent years, there is a growing interest in issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion within educational institutions. Regarding this increased interest and the preparation and support of future and current teachers to engage in such work, educational institutions often evoke more rhetoric than action (Cochran-Smith et al., 2015; Goodwin & Chen, 2016; Mills & Ballantyne, 2016). This study has policy and practice implications for the preparation and support of future and current teachers to engage in working toward racial justice in various school settings.

Authors

• Rubén A. González, Stanford University

• Izamar del Rosario Ortiz-González, University of California, Davis

• Danny C. Martinez, University of California - Davis