Abstract
The purpose of this chapter is to draw attention to the intersection of racism and sexism in the life of a Black woman teacher educator and how these systems operated to disempower her. The chapter highlights research on the experiences of Black women in higher education and chronicles the author's personal story of pedagogy and practice as a Black women teacher educator. The chapter also details how she navigates societal oppression within the classroom and how her work reflects social justice pedagogy where oppression is examined and challenged through professional risk-taking. While conservative norms serve as a means to marginalize her experience, the author documents how she navigates systems of oppression and how she continues to survive as she pushes against the status quo and towards personal and professional liberation. The hope is that in sharing this autoethnographic counternarrative, readers will gain insight into the systemic and microaggressive experiences of Black women teacher educators who seek to make the academy a more inclusive place.
TopIntroduction
I am a teacher educator because I believe in the power to change people’s understandings about themselves, others and the world (Henry, 1994, p. 1).
Understanding that while race and gender are socially constructed categories, they have created inherent power differences in the lived experiences of both women and people of color (Collins, 2000). For Black women, in particular, separating one’s existence as solely racial or gendered is nearly impossible (Beal, 1970). Therefore, these women can face institutional opposition and alienation in higher education resulting from both sexism and racism (Davis & Maldonado, 2015). This chapter aims to draw attention to the ways racism and sexism affect the life of one Black woman teacher educator and how these oppressive forces operated to disempower her. Grounded in Black Feminist Theory, this chapter briefly highlights the research on Black women's experiences in higher education settings, emphasizing teacher education. In addition, this chapter highlights the author’s autoethnography of identity development as a Black woman and her professional practice as a teacher educator who believes in the power to change people’s understandings. The author details how she has navigated the societal systems of racial and gendered oppression within the classroom and other campus spaces and how these experiences laid the groundwork for her current work as a higher education administrator (Logan & Dudley, 2019). While the climate in higher education has marginalized the author's experience, she also seeks to capture how she pushes against the status quo and towards personal and professional liberation. The hope is readers will gain insight into the systemic and microaggressive experiences of Black women faculty in teacher preparation programs and seek to challenge the status quo and hegemony to make programs, departments, and universities more inclusive places.
Key Terms in this Chapter
Stereotype Threat: The perceived opportunity for a person to confirm a negative stereotype about a group to which the person belongs.
Critical Race Theory: A theoretical framework that seeks to understand and challenge how race, society, and the law in the United States intersect.
Counternarrative: A narrative told from the vantage point of a historically marginalized person.
Black Feminist Thought: A theoretical framework that provides Black women the tools to resist intersecting oppressions and end social and economic injustices.
Microaggressive Stress: A result of experiencing microaggressions can lead to trauma and depression.
Racial Microaggressions: Daily verbal, behavioral, or environmental slights that communicate negative, derogatory, or hostile messages toward Black people, Indigenous people, and other people of color. AU79: Reference appears to be out of alphabetical order. Please check
Autoethnography: A qualitative research design where the author uses self-reflection and writing to explore personal experience to connect their story to more significant structural, cultural, or societal understandings or events.