About The Research
This study explores the impact of GTAs’ intersecting identities on their understandings and conceptualizations of social justice education. In addition, the study seeks to understand how these intersecting identities also influence how GTAs approach social justice in a predominantly white context. This research study aims to answer the following research questions: how do teachers’ intersecting identities inform their understandings and approaches to social justice education? Secondarily, what role does context play in how teachers negotiate their intersecting identities in social justice education?
Teaching for social justice is a complex journey that requires addressing the concept of intersectionality to understand the multiple levels of oppression of theories and practices that individuals can experience in educational settings. (Kyle, 2022) Thus, teacher educators' intersectionalities need to be analyzed to reflect on the interconnectedness of their identities and their impact on their teaching practices especially when teaching social justice content. (Marco‐Bujosa, 2023) The role of teacher educators is crucial in reducing inequities and addressing social justice in the classroom. Teachers can convey explicit and often“hidden” messages that reveal discourses about social justice issues (Ponet. et al. 2023). These discourses can be influenced by their intersecting identities. Intersectionality as a framework can serve to explore how race, culture, and field identities converge in particular educational contexts in teaching for social justice. (Marco-Bujosa, 2022). Teacher discourses about social justice can reveal power dynamics as well as challenge or reinforce dominant narratives in the classroom setting. (Carlson, 2007)
This study employs Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA). CDA examines not only how language functions in social interactions, but also how it operates politically within those interactions (Gee as cited in Rogers. 2011). The role of a critical analyst is to situate discourse analysis within its social and cultural context to better understand its impact and meaning. This means considering historical, social, and political factors when interpreting discourses. (Roger, 2011). Data was collected through a semi-structured interview. The first part of the interview was focused on participants’ identities. Participants were asked to draw an identity map that included race, gender, class, SES, language, ethnicity, sexual orientation, ability, religion, and education level. Based on this map, participants identified the identity markers that were most important to them and the ones that informed their teaching practices for social justice. The second part of the interview focused on questions that prompted participants to share understandings, approaches, and classroom experiences when approaching social justice with pre-service teachers in the program.
About The Creative Process
I was motivated to apply for the Arts in the Libraries Award because it provides researchers with an opportunity to make their work accessible to all audiences. In academia, results are mostly presented by using complex charts and language that excludes some groups of people from engaging with research. I believe art is a great way to include everyone in research. For this exhibition, collages were chosen to do this exhibition because they allow for the incorporation of diverse materials that, when put together, create a unique craft that conveys unique messages and ideas. It also allows for experimentation with colors, composition, and texture. Collages challenge the traditional idea of what beauty and art are, allowing for messiness. In a world that is becoming more minimalistic every day, being messy is a revolutionary act. In history, collages have been used by artists to explore themes such as politics and identity. In order to create these collages, I was able to co-construct with the research contributors, known as “participants” in research.
I first asked them about the possibility of collaborating with their collages' creation. At the end of the day, no one knows better than themselves about their identities and teaching philosophy. I was able to collaborate with all of them in different ways. First, on a Zoom call or through other means of communication, we went back to the interview transcripts and identified collages to find the most prominent ideas and beliefs about social justice education. Second, we chose pictures or images that could represent these ideas in a symbolic and sometimes in a literal way. After the images were chosen by them, either me or both, I was given free rein for the creative process. This was the most difficult part because I was given the responsibility of accurately and authentically representing other educators’ identities. I wanted to capture the contributors’ essence in the collages. To do so, I chose colors, textures, and imagery that I considered represented well their ideas, experiences, backgrounds, and intersecting identities. Initially, I had chosen to do these collages digitally because of the ease of sharing the progress with the contributors. However, I felt that using digital tools only was reducing their identities to the digital world only somehow. I wanted to “bring their identities to life”. I wanted to make their experiences, beliefs, and identities as social justice educators real. So, I decided to print the collages and then include realistic elements such as a pencil, glitter, fake money, leaves, a light bulb, and medals. The way these elements were used was to show the multiple layers and the complexity in educators’ identities. As I progressed through the collages, I ensured constant communication with contributors to allow them to add ideas or provide feedback. After the collages were done, I went back to the interview scripts and found their definition of social justice, since it captures the essence of the research study.
Creating these collages has been more than an artistic process, but also a journey of co-constructing, interpreting, and honoring the voices and identities of teachers. What began as a research study has grown into something that allowed me to blend scholarship and creativity by making teacher identities visible in novel ways. My hope is that visitors leave the exhibition not only with a deeper understanding of educators’ experiences and beliefs, but also with an appreciation of how the arts can make research more human and accessible.