"I'm Not Crazy?" Teachers of Color and Racial Battle Fatigue in K–12 Schools

• In Event: 34.079 - Roundtable Session 14
  In Roundtable Session: 34.079-2 - Critical Race Classroom Ecology: Using Critical Race Theory to Inform Praxis in the Pre-K–20 Classroom

Abstract

Objective: Teachers of Color are drastically underrepresented across the nation, particularly in districts serving mostly students of color (Achinstein & Ogawa, 2011; Villegas & Jordan-Irvine, 2010). Teachers of Color also leave the classroom at rate 24% higher per year than their white counterparts. There have been many explanations for their attrition that include under-preparation, higher debt, and employment at harder to staff schools (Achinstein & Ogawa, 2011). While these reasons are important to address, CRT calls for us to also explore the role that racial climate might play in this disparity. This paper frames three case studies of teachers of Color across the pipeline through a CRT and a racial battle fatigue lens to reveal the impact of racialization on teachers of Color as a key problem in their retention.

Theoretical Framework: Critical Race Theory (CRT) is a framework used to illuminate racism embedded in U.S. institutions, including our nation’s educational system, with the struggle for dignity and equality of communities of Color as a central concern (Smith Madox & Solórzano, 2002). Racial battle fatigue has been conceptualized by CRT scholars to understand the physical impact of racism on people of Color, primarily the experiences of African Americans at predominantly white higher educational institutions (Smith, 2004; Smith, Yosso & Solorzano, 2011). Smith (2004) explains that there is an emotional, physiological and psychological cost to racism, and that chronic exposure is analogous to the constant pressure that soldiers face on the battlefield. These experiences can result in anxiety disorders, depression and exhaustion. This paper extends the framework to understand the experiences of diverse teachers of Color in urban K-12 school contexts.

Methods and Data Sources: This paper presents three case studies from a larger study with 268 diverse K-12 teachers of Color from across the nation who worked in schools serving mostly students of color. Data collection involved a short answer questionnaire about about participants’ goals for racial justice, the racial climate of their school sites, and their professional struggles as a teacher of color in urban schools. 32 self-selected participants additionally engaged in a brief video interview to further explore specific racialized experiences that emerged in the broader questionnaire, eight of which discussed in-depth their experiences with racial battle fatigue. Of these eight participants, the three case studies were purposefully sampled (one pre-service teacher, one novice teacher, and one veteran teachers) as representative of themes in the broader study.

Findings and Significance: The paper reveals three key findings: 1) while teachers of color are of great value to students and parents, they feel isolated, undervalued and questioned in their positions; 3) based on racialized experiences, teachers of color experience racial battle fatigue in the form of anxiety attacks and exhaustion, and 3) teachers of color have tools and resiliency they rely on to both cope and heal from their racialized experiences. By illuminating the impact of racialized experiences on teachers of Color, this paper complicates notions of support, racialization and attrition that currently exists in the literature on teachers of Color.

Authors

• Marcos Pizarro, San José State University

• Rita Kohli, University of California - Riverside