Room 113: Dr. Olive Nabukeera - "Teaching ESL while Black in the United States" - (IntC, ESP) - University of Southern California, LA

Findings of the study on Black ESL teachers in the United States showed that while race is a salient feature in the professional lives of these teachers, their multicultural identities are more central to the way they understand their roles and position themselves as language educators, their pedagogical choices and interactions with students. However, it was also revealed that because of underrepresentation in the workplace, dominant stereotypical and societal perceptions of Blackness played a silent but impactful role in how teachers were racially and linguistically positioned by their peers, the subsequent racial microaggressions they encountered and overall impact on working identities. The major pedagogical conclusion was that the experiences of Black teachers, who are a racial minority in the field of TESOL, are a valuable resource for all educators seeking to incorporate race and diversity pedagogy in the curriculum.

Bio

Olive Nabukeera has spent the past 15 years studying and teaching English in Uganda, Rwanda, England and the United States. She has a BA in English and Literature from Makerere University in Uganda, an MA in TESOL from the University of Bath, UK, an MA in International educational management from the University of Leeds , UK and a Doctorate in TESOL from Alliant International University, USA. Her research interests include native speakerism, race and language ideologies in English language education, and Black teacher identity. She currently works as an ESL lecturer at the University Southern California in Los Angeles.