Charting a Way Forward: Intersections of race and space in establishing identity as an African-Canadian teacher educator

Abstract

In Canada, most universities and their classrooms are often constructed as rational and neutral spaces where interaction between professors and students is free of the influences of race, class, and gender. Implicit in such a construction is the assumption that the university is a purely White space where students from the dominant racial group expect the professorate to be of similar race. The presence of a non-White teacher educator in such an environment disrupts such fictional constructions, generating tensions and resistance that complicate teaching and learning. This self-study describes my experience as an African-Canadian teacher educator and the intersections of race and space in a faculty of education landscape enmeshed in an ongoing struggle of decolonization. Along with self-study methodology, I use critical race theory and feminist post-structural theory to analyze the construction of my racial identity and relations of power in a White settler society. I explore how the intersection of race and space in my identity formation can be used to understand how my students are produced historically and culturally. The self-study provides insights into the production of teacher, student, and institution identities in a racialized place. It reveals how individuals and institutions are implicated in the work that needs to be done to enable diverse groups to interact meaningfully in critical, caring, and transformative ways.