Using counter-narrative to disrupt dominant perspectives in education: An exploration of the pedagogy and positionality of selected black women faculty

Abstract

This paper considers the relationship between Black women and literacy and how our pedagogy is embodied through our stories. The stories we share, live, make, and remake, contribute to our positional locations in the world and our physical bodies. I explore connections between emotional scars Black women carry caused by societal and academic norms, and how our teaching experiences in predominantly white spaces lead some of us to disrupt dominant perspectives within literacy education. Counter-narrative (Yosso, 2006) is one pedagogical tool Black Women faculty use to disrupt these dominant perspectives. Black women’s faculty narratives help scholars understand how we are positioned within universities and ways we disrupt dominant perspectives in education through research methods and literacy pedagogy. I draw upon Critical Race Theory (Ladson-Billings, 1998) to demonstrate its usefulness in literacy contexts. This research has implications for educational inquiry and pedagogical praxis, particularly from diverse, critical perspectives.