Journal article
Experiencing the cycles of love in teaching: the praxis of an early career Asian American ELA teacher
English teaching : practice and critique, Vol.22(4), pp.546-564
11/27/2023
DOI: 10.1108/ETPC-08-2022-0099
Abstract
Purpose Early career teachers (ECTs) of Color are key in making change, resisting racism and pushing back against white supremacy in K-12 education, specifically in English Language Arts (ELA) classrooms. Through a narrative telling inquiry (Clandinin and Connelly, 2000) of Nora, an Asian American ELA ECT in the Midwest, and by drawing on Fisher’s (2011) Critical Integral Pedagogy of Fearlessness, this study aims to recognize the narrative power within teaching praxis as Nora stories herself toward becoming a critical pedagogue. Design/methodology/approach Using narrative inquiry methodology and methods (Clandinin and Connelly, 2000), the authors simultaneously considered the commonplace tenets of narrative inquiry – temporality, sociality and place – of the intertwined relationships of the participants and observers. The field texts included in the corpus of data include myriad tellings of Nora’s experiences in her initial years of teaching ELA. Data were analyzed in stages of parsing out narrative blocks and structures. Findings The findings indicate that Nora, as an ECT, went through recursive cycles of fear as conceptualized by Fisher (2011) – bravery, courageousness and being fear-less – of working toward radical love (Hooks, 2000) within her ELA instruction. The authors argue that Nora confronted her personal and professional fears as she strove to become a critical pedagogue in her ELA classroom. Originality/value Current scholarship portrays ECTs as lacking agency in their development and/or effectiveness in the classroom and little is said about Asian American ELA ECTs and critical instruction. The authors present Nora’s counter-narrative to make visible what is right with ELA ECTs, specifically teachers of Color, as they transform their fear into courage to fight for educational equity.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- Experiencing the cycles of love in teaching: the praxis of an early career Asian American ELA teacher
- Creators
- Kelli A. Rushek - Miami UniversitySaba Khan Vlach - University of IowaTiphany Phan - Cedar Rapids Public Library
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publication Details
- English teaching : practice and critique, Vol.22(4), pp.546-564
- Publisher
- Emerald Group Publishing
- DOI
- 10.1108/ETPC-08-2022-0099
- ISSN
- 2059-5727
- eISSN
- 1175-8708
- Language
- English
- Electronic publication date
- 11/10/2023
- Date published
- 11/27/2023
- Academic Unit
- Teaching and Learning
- Record Identifier
- 9984508860202771
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