Protection, Resilience, and Survival: Activist Teachers of Color and Networks Combating Isolation and Racial Microaggressions

• In Event: Challenges and Triumphs in Teaching

Abstract

Teachers of Color experience isolation due to racial microaggressions and institutional racism throughout their careers, leading to trauma and higher levels of teacher turnover in the profession. In this study, we used a theoretical framework informed by the ‘pedagogy of activism’ (Catone, 2017) and scholarship on microaggressions (Sue, 2010) to explore how activist teachers of Color seek support to combat isolation and harm through participation in activist and racial affinity groups. We investigated the experiences of 26 activist teachers of Color from across the United States and found that racial affinity groups within or constituting teacher activist networks were key to creating healing spaces for coping with isolation. These findings have implications for sustaining diversity in the teacher workforce.

Authors

• Lynnette K. Mawhinney, Rutgers University - Newark

• Kira J. Baker-Doyle, University of Illinois at Chicago

• Sonia M Rosen, University of Pennsylvania