Power, Protest, and Teacher Attrition: Employing Affective Turnover to Analyze the Phenomenon of Black American Educators' Migration Abroad

• In Event: Teachers in Comparative Settings

Proposal

Introduction

Educational research defines “turnover” as encompassing two trajectories of teacher mobility. Attrition delineates educators who, of their own volition, vacate the teaching profession either temporarily or on a more permanent basis, whereas migration pertains to educators who transition from one educational institution to another (Carver-Thomas & Darling-Hammond, 2017; Ingersoll, 2003).

Conventional scholarship primarily provides domestic interpretations of teacher turnover that continue to overlook a phenomenon of educators pursuing teaching roles outside of the United States (U.S.). Teachers’ international migration from the teaching profession in the U.S. to education systems in other countries remains noticeably underexplored. Referred to in this study as EDPats (EDucation + exPatriates), these individuals represent a significant demographic missing from domestic studies on turnover.

In the context of collective demonstrations, this paper introduces the notion of individual acts of protest, offering a nuanced understanding of intricate dynamics within teacher attrition. As the largest population contributing to U.S. teacher attrition statistics, the paper explores the international migration decisions of Black American teachers who transitioned from schools in the U.S. to schools in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Emphasizing their migration as individual acts of protest is pivotal, as it presents an alternate lens through which to interpret the interplay between power and protest. Analysis illuminates the myriad of ways in which race, gender, and socio-economic class intersect and influence individualized and unique acts of protest. From this perspective, protests are not exclusively characterized by large, collective actions; they can also manifest as potent individual acts.

Background of the Problem

The American educational landscape has witnessed extensive, widespread protests in recent years, stemming from educators’ expressed discontent with the profession. Considerable insight has been gained from the macro-level demonstrations exemplified by the teacher strikes of recent years. Yet adjacent to these large-scale movements are isolated acts of individualized protest that also embody significant power—namely, individual educators’ decisions about whether to remain in the U.S. education system or to pursue teaching opportunities elsewhere.

Historically for Black Americans, scholars have contended that conventional modes of expressing dissatisfaction, such as mass protests, have most often been inaccessible (Dollard, 1957). In his study about caste and class in a southern town, Dollard explained that potent methods of articulating discontent were scarce and therefore, Black Americans aspiring socio-economic upward mobility had to devise unobtrusive methods of resistance.

In exploring various strategies of resistance, Dollard (1957) found increased workforce attrition to be one of the many mechanisms used by Black American plantation workers to express dissatisfaction. This tactic, he argued, effectively disrupted land owners’ aspirations for a stable and proficient labor force. Amongst the vast limitations faced by Black Americans at that time, leaving, or workforce attrition, was the most aggressive form of expressing discontent and was “one of the few ways in which pressure can be put on” (Dollard, 1957, p. 302).

Positioning teacher attrition within the scope of an expression of discontent, an individualized act of protest, allows for a more nuanced exploration. Such a perspective can pave the way for a profound analysis of the multifaceted factors contributing to teacher departures in educational settings.

Methodology

This paper posits “affective turnover” as a pivotal theoretical construct for deeper analysis of teacher turnover. Defined succinctly, it couples together the theories of intersectionality (Collins & Bilge, 2016; Crenshaw, 2018; May, 2015) and emotional transnationalism (Williams, 2018; Wolf, 2002). Affective turnover probes into the international migration choices of 10 Black American educators who transitioned from U.S. classrooms to educational roles in the UAE. This qualitative exploration draws from extensive doctoral research, grounded in 14 months of fieldwork across Abu Dhabi, Ras Al Khaimah, and Dubai.


Findings

During the course of this presentation, I will discuss two pivotal findings.

Firstly, I will introduce “affective turnover” as an emergent theoretical tool geared towards deciphering the affective complexities underpinning teachers’ decisions to leave their positions. This finding delves into the multifaceted manner in which educators’ emotions interlace with diverse facets of their identities, be it race, class, gender, or nationality.

Secondly, I will elaborate on a recurrent theme I have termed “comparative emotions”. Anchored within the broader framework of affective turnover, this thematic pattern unravels the cognitive and emotional processes Black American EDPats traverse as they interpret their acts of protest – their decisions for migration. Central to this theme is the educators’ reflexive comparison of their lived experiences in the U.S. against those in the UAE.

Discussion and Recommendations

The discourse around the findings will be situated within the “Recommendation Concerning the Status of Teachers,” adopted by the Special Intergovernmental Conference on the Status of Teachers, convened by UNESCO on 5 October 1966. Specifically, it will anchor itself in the “Conditions for Effective Teaching and Learning” segment, under the “Teacher Exchange'' category.

The document advocates for authorities to recognize the enriching nature of professional and cultural exchanges between countries and travel abroad and emphasizes the importance of sharing the knowledge acquired abroad within the home country’s educational community.

In conclusion, by studying the migration decisions of Black American educators abroad, this research aims to offer novel insights into the complex dynamics of power, protest, and teacher attrition.

References

Carver-Thomas, D. & Darling-Hammond, L. (2017). Teacher turnover:
Why it matters and what we can do about it. Palo Alto, CA: Learning Policy Institute. https://learningpolicyinstitute.org/product/teacher-turnover-report

Collins, P. H. & Bilge, S. (2016). Intersectionality. Polity Press.

Crenshaw, K. (1991). Demarginalizing the intersection of race and sex: A Black feminist critique of antidiscrimination doctrine, feminist theory and antiracist politics. The University of Chicago Legal Forum, 139.

Dollard, J. (1957). Caste and class in a southern town. Doubleday and Company.

Ingersoll, R. & Smith (2003). The wrong solution to the teacher shortage. Educational Leadership,60(8), 30-33. https://web-p-ebscohost-com.ezp1.lib.umn.edu/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=0&sid=71768076-8965-4f7c-be34-efa812c6995f%40redis

May, V. M. (2015). Pursuing intersectionality, unsettling dominant imaginaries. Routledge.

Williams, B. (2018). The pursuit of happiness: Black women, diasporic dreams, and the politics of emotional transnationalism. Duke University Press.

Wolf, D. (1997). Family secrets: Transnational struggles among children of Filipino immigrants. Sociological Perspectives 40(3), 457-482.

Author

• Tiffany Lachelle Smith, Sheikh Saud bin Saqr Al Qasimi Foundation for Policy Research