(Re)Membering Wellness: An Autoethnography of Navigating Caregiving and Academic Endeavors

• In Event: "Control, Alt, Delete": Recalibrating Work-Life Harmony and Reaffirming Scholarly Identity to Better Cultivate Educational Equity

Abstract

Purpose

In this autoethnography, I critically analyze how my academic village helped me to (re)member (Dillard, 2012) my scholarly identity. I illuminate the psychological and physical stressors of juggling parent care, and personal and professional life. I argue that during my time as a caregiver, it was my personal reflection, self-care practice, and village support that allowed me a “hard re-set” (Ladson-Billings, 2021) to re-think, re-envision, and (re)member (Dillard, 2012) a more equitable and just approach to harmonizing my personal and professional life of supporting equity in P-12 schools. My village provided racial wellness support (Warren-Grice, 2021) and helped me to return to a state of homeostasis to support my academic work. In this paper, I push educators to consider the value of the village and the spirit of Ubuntu (Dillard, 2012)—our commitment to community—to recognize that “a person depends on others to be a person, to be human, belonging to a wholeness greater than he/she can ever achieve alone” (Dillard, 2012, p. 85).

Epistemological Perspectives

Dillard’s (2006; 2012) endarkened feminist epistemology, (re)membering, and spirit of Ubuntu serve as an act of decolonization by honoring the wisdom of Black women’s memory, spirituality, ways of knowing and being, and ways of our ancestors in the approach and sacred process of healing, teaching and researching. Dillard (2012) writes,
…if we assume as I do that the knowledge, wisdom, and ways of our ancestors are a central and present part of everything that has existed, is existing, and will exist in what we call the future, then teaching and research must also undertake and often unnamed, unrecognized, unarticulated and forgotten task that is important for individuals who yearn to understand the ways of being and knowing that have been marginalized in the world and in formal education. (4)

Methods

In this paper, I utilize autoethnographic methods (Hughes & Pennington, 2017) to offer a critical reflection of my lived experiences and the impact of being a full-time caregiver (Jenkins, 2019; Cannon & Fawcett, 2018), while also being an educational consultant working with P-12 leaders to cultivate equity and justice in schools. In this way, I write myself and my experiences into the larger discourse on wellness for scholars of color.

Data Sources

My journal serves as the main data source. I analyze notes and reflections from my experience as a parent caregiver from 2013 – 2020 and as an educational consultant working with P-12 school districts in the Midwest. Journal entries include my thoughts, processes, experiences, and reflections in relation to caregiving, consulting, and travels to academic conferences and a writing retreat in Ghana.

Results

Findings illustrate the importance of educators having personal reflection and self-care practices, and a village committed to the spirit of Ubuntu as a 1) humanizing practice; 2) spiritual and healing practice; and a 3) supportive space.

Scholarly Significance

This study contributes to the literature on caregivers and the wellness of scholars of color in higher education.

Author

• April Michelle Warren-Grice, University of Pittsburgh