Resistance Through Unsilencing: Critical Incident Ethnographic Accounts of Black Female Educators and Staff

• In Event: Black, Indigenous, and People of Color Voices in Education: Querying Counternarratives and Cross-Cultural Resistance

Abstract

This study examines the experiences of six Black female educators and staff within one school community using a critical ethnography approach. This study uses intersectionality to understand how anti-blackness and white supremacy operate by examining critical incidents. Data collection included Author 1 reflective journaling, participant-constructed narratives, semi-structured interviews, and school artifacts. Results focus on three themes: (1) denied support, (2) professional credentials, and (3) health and safety. This study works toward understanding and moving toward redressing inequities for Black educators and staff. In making these critical incidents visible by valuing these experiences, we can position these moments separately and collectively as a grounded approach for motivating change across micro, meso, and macro scales within educational systems.

Authors

• Shameeka M. Wilson, Stanford University

• Jamie L. Schissel, University of North Carolina - Greensboro