Articles

In this article, we present findings from a self-study of a teacher educator (TE), as she conducted professional development for in-service teachers during the COVID-19 pandemic and the sudden transition from in-person to remote instruction, which the pandemic precipitated. Our findings reveal that salient features of virtually mediated instruction contributed directly to TE self- doubt and burnout. We link this experience to habits developed through in- person teaching, which rely on audiovisual cues for formative assessment and ethical affirmation. By improving TE metacognition using a care-based framework, we show how one TE was able to gather new forms of formative and affirmative information from her students and thereby, reenergize her TE practice.

This article explores how Black teachers have used liberatory literacy practices through a lens of care when working with Black students. The prioritization of care is particularly important for Black students as they often experience a lack of care within schools due to labeling, stereotyping, and a lack of racially and culturally diverse teaching staff, curriculum, and resources. Black teachers are particularly effective in improving literacy outcomes for Black students, and this article emphasizes the importance of the care they provide in implementing culturally and historically responsive pedagogies that foster deep, meaningful learning. This article also emphasizes the funds of knowledge that Black teachers and students possess and highlights approaches that Black teachers have taken that create a warm, caring environment where Black students can thrive instead of being forced to fit into current systems that are unresponsive to Black student needs.

There are many aspects of the self that connect and influence teaching. However, these varying pieces and parts of the self can feel compartmentalized, removed, unconnected, and oftentimes completely undesirable. In this work, two authors weave their stories together to narrate their journey toward an understanding and uniting of the pieces of the self that contribute to teaching. This process provided more clarity on the puzzle pieces that made up the various aspects of the self that they internalized, not only as teachers, but also as humans. They embarked on this task to deepen and enrich their understanding of the self and their teaching experiences along with an understanding of how their lived experiences contribute to their work with teachers and to the world in meaningful ways.