"This Ain't Gonna Work for Me": The Role of the Afrocentric Praxis of Eldering in Creating More Equitable Research Partnerships

• In Event: Marriott Roundtable Session 11
  In Roundtable Session: Exploring and Expanding the Scope of Professional Development Schools

Abstract

Over two years, an early career teacher who identifies as Black and a university professor who identifies as white, explored culturally responsive practices in a second-grade classroom in a professional development school. In this paper, we unpack our research relationship over the course of those two years and how the Afrocentric principles of eldering evolved as we grew our relationship into one of mutual mentorship shifting our roles from professor and student to co-researchers, co-teachers, and friends. This contributed to our sense of communal responsibility as our dialogue about race and our racial identities evolved from surface level conversations exploring our vulnerabilities, insecurities and our biases and how we moved that work to critical conversations and curriculum with children.

Authors

• Tasha Marie Tropp Laman, Western Washington University

• Janelle Henderson, Mill Creek Academy