Abstract
In this manuscript, I provide an example of what activism in your own backyard may look like in institutional contexts using Foucault’s notions of ethics. To this end, I report findings from a two-year study conducted in my own science methods courses with two cohorts of pre-service teachers. Through a critical autoethnographic lens, I recount a synthesis of struggles and successes that illustrate what happens when one’s ethical and professional commitments to work for social justice intersect (collide) with the urgent need to address opp(regre)ssive practices in our own programs. Suggestions for how to be an activist in our own backyards and how to (re)engage our ethical commitments through a praxis of self-care are also provided.
Highlights
Road Map The guiding questions the editors of this special issue included in their call for submissions were quite compelling, and for me, the following question was captivating: “What might activism and political engagement in science/education entail?” Since I was already engaged in an activist project, I wanted to explore more closely a modified and more personal version of this question
In order to consider these questions, I use findings from a two-year study I conducted in my own science methods courses with two cohorts of pre-service teachers to expose, disrupt and transform contradictory and normative practices within my institution’s elementary teacher education program
I have used critical autoethnography as a tool to explicate the barriers and successes I encountered in my efforts to address opp(regre)ssive practices in my own teacher education program
Summary
Michel Foucault’s (1997) notions of ethics and their application to the field of education are intriguing. Foucault interpreted ethics as an act of self-care—neither as a selfish nor selfless traditional and binary notion, but as a much more complex system mediated by the games of truth and power relations that imbue human interactions. These two notions provide useful entry points for us to better understand the dominant discursive practices that sustain (or could aid in disrupting) entrenched power structures: The word "game" can lead you astray: when I say "game," I mean a set of rules by which truth is produced. We should constantly reflect on the extent to which our ethical selves are compromised when we choose “to look the other way” in the presence of unjust and oppressive practices, and by default relinquish our freedom
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