Interracial Teaching Partnerships: Autoethnographic Reflections on Identity in the Classroom

Background and Purpose:

The profession of social work adheres to the value of social justice, however, social work education is not immune to white supremacy and institutional racism. Furthermore, research indicates that white supremacy and anti-Blackness in social work education often goes unacknowledged (Gregory, 2021). Interracial team teaching represents one strategy to challenge implicit and explicit bias in the social work classroom. This study builds on existing research by describing the team teaching experiences of three instructors who hold diverse identities across domains of race, ethnicity, gender, and sexual orientation. The objective of this study was to explore how self-aware and accountable teaching pedagogy can be implemented through teaching partnerships. The research question guiding this study is, how does team teaching across identities function to dismantle privilege and oppression in the social work classroom?

Methods:

Following the model put forth by Odera and colleagues (2020), we employ autoethnography to explore our experiences as a white transgender individual, a Latina woman, and a Black man co-teaching a bachelor’s level anti-oppressive social work class. Drawing on personal reflections, course evaluations, and course materials, we met after the course ended to discuss on our experiences. These meetings were recorded, transcribed, and thematically analyzed using NVivo. Upon completion of analysis, we collaboratively synthesized results. We provide an overview of our positionality in the classroom followed by a narrative assessment of how our identities influenced our engagement with course content and our relationships with each other and with students in the course.

Results:

Team teaching provided a unique opportunity for instructors to center lived experiences in the classroom. In this way, the co-teaching model constructively decolonized the classroom by re-situating each of us as learners, open to new ways of being and knowing dependent on identity. Engaging in pedagogical partnerships required self-awareness and self-reflection as we navigated power dynamics in the classroom and the enduring legacy of white supremacy in social work. As co-instructors with diverse identities, we were uniquely positioned to support each other in naming and challenging white fragility and microaggressions in the classroom. Furthermore, team teaching allowed us to identify and address areas of personal and professional growth that we may not have otherwise recognized.

Conclusions and Implications:

Pedagogical partnerships across diverse social identities facilitated both instructor and student accountability while simultaneously nourishing relational teaching approaches. The authors found that centering relationships provided essential support as we navigated the naming and dismantling structural oppression. This autoethnographic research brings to light issues of identity and positionality in social work education. Research findings further develop team teaching strategies as a novel way to dismantle white supremacy in the social work classroom.

References

Gregory, J. R. (2021). Social Work as a Product and Project of Whiteness, 1607–1900. Journal of Progressive Human Services, 32(1), 17–36.

Odera et al. (2021). Decentering Whiteness in Social Work Curriculum: An Autoethnographic Reflection on a Racial Justice Practice Course. Advances in Social Work, 21(2/3), 801–820.