Inquiry and Collaborative Autoethnographic Reflection: Enacting Justice as Praxis

• In Event: Justice as Praxis: Cultivating Community, Centering Creativity, and Building Viable Pathways for Equitable Educational Systems

Abstract

In this paper, we engage in collaborative autoethnographic inquiry (Hernandez et al., 2017). In doing so, we look inward through self-reflection, as we build a cross-racial coalition as educators and education researchers. We also look outward to develop a critical stance for enacting justice as praxis. Drawing from Patel’s (2015) notions of ‘embodied research,’ we consider the power in our voices, actions, and work within and beyond academic spaces as Black, Asian/American, and critical white women. Inspired by the reflective work of other Scholar of Color collectives (Player et al., 2020) and coalitions (Dobbs & Leider, 2021; Hsieh & Nguyen, 2021), we embodied a 3-part autoethnographic process that included: individual writing; collective reading; and collective reflection through discussion. Specifically, our data included our individual writings, comments on one another’s writings, recordings and notes on our collective reflections, which were initially discussed, then refined and discussed further. Through individual and collective reflections, we investigated: (1) the meaning of justice as praxis; (2) how we enact and embody justice as praxis in similar and diverse ways; and (3) how justice as praxis cultivates equitable educational systems by pushing back against white supremacist notions of individualism, isolation, and academic hierarchies. Three themes were pervasive in our data. The first theme, “threats to our humanity” was amplified through racism, sexism, and xenophobia during the global coronavirus pandemic. Within this theme, we actively resisted these threats in and through cross-racial solidarity communities. The second theme, “transformative nature of authentic collective spaces of vulnerability and humanity” allowed us to bring and be our full selves. While the third theme, “academia perpetuates inequities” helped us to unpack academia’s inability to fully recognize the value of justice as praxis, as it upholds traditional standards of productivity that limits the full impact and potential of embodied justice work. Recognizing the traits of (in)equitable systems of education and documenting our meaningful acts of resistance, we offer transformative ways academia might cultivate equitable educational systems. Furthermore, we problematize whether equitable education systems are possible within the academy or whether they must come through liberatory, community-grounded, spaces of belonging, generated by and for women of color and other minoritized groups. In creating spaces by us and for us, we critically consider the role of equity for our students, families, communities and ourselves.

References:

Dobbs, C. L., & Leider, C. M. (2021). Does this happen to everyone?”: Women professors of color reflect on experiences in the academy. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1080/09518398.2021.1930255

Hernandez, K. A. C., Chang, H., & Ngunjiri, F. W. (2017). Collaborative Autoethnography as
Multivocal, Relational, and Democratic Research: Opportunities, Challenges, and Aspirations. A/b: Auto/Biography Studies, 32(2), 251–254. https://doi.org/10.1080/08989575.2017.1288892

Hsieh, B., & Nguyen, H. T. (2020). Coalitional Resistance: Challenging Racialized and Gendered Oppression in Teacher Education. Journal of Teacher Education, 72(3), 355–367. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022487120960371

Player, G. D., Coles, J. A., Ybarra, M. G., & The Fugitive Literacies Collective. (2020). Enacting
Educational Fugitivity with Youth of Color: A Statement/Love Letter from the Fugitive Literacies Collective. The High School Journal, 103(3), 140–156. https://doi.org/10.1353/hsj.2020.0009

Authors

• Betina Hsieh, University of Washington

• Sakeena Everett, University of Connecticut

• Bharivi Trived

• Cati V. de los Rios, University of California - Berkeley