Navigating Diversity in Turbulent Times: A Collaborative Autoethnography

Background: Most Social Work Codes of Ethics mandate that social workers must actively advance inclusion and social justice. Social work educators are entrusted with the task of integrating Anti-Oppressive Pedagogy (AOP), which encourages students to address social divisions and structural inequalities while promoting reflection on their personal beliefs and values. However, widening social gaps and political polarization may exacerbate disparities between professional values and religious interpretations, norms or perspectives held by faculty and students. Anchored in AOP scholarship and grounded in our experiences as educators who hold diverse positions with respect to each other and our various academic institutions, this study aims to explore how AOP can be applied across diversity during heightened social-political conflict. The questions that guide the study are a) what are the dilemmas faced by educators teaching across diversity during social and political conflict? b) how does the use of AOP challenge traditional ways of knowing and thinking in contentious times?

Methods: Amidst the controversial judicial reform promoted by the Israeli government and in the aftermath of the October 7^th events, we employed collaborative autoethnography (CAE) to explore our experiences as academics teaching anti-oppressive content in BSW and MSW programs across ethnic, religious and gender diversity. Our team composed of two Jewish-Israeli researchers and one Arab-Israeli researcher occupying different positions with respect to each other and our students, met regularly over an 18-month period to reflect on our teaching experiences, exchange ideas and offer mutual support. Data for this study were drawn from transcribed team meetings, course materials and numerus personal field diaries. We collaboratively analyzed the data using critical discourse analysis to discern meaning, commonalities, and disparities across diverse positionalities and socio-cultural contexts.

Results: Three interconnected dilemmas that emerged as the social and political divisions widened: a) suppression and expression - how to facilitate supportive class discussion in an atmosphere of self-censorship and silence; b) organizational support and institutional pressure - how to navigate different identities and positions with respect to changing organizational demands associated with neoliberalism in academia; and c) self-reflection and self-care - how to balance emotional labor during social and political tensions. We critically examine how our individual and professional positionalities as well as those of our students shape perceptions of social work pedagogy, teaching, and power dynamics. These dilemmas suggest that relationships and hierarchies are de-stabilized in turbulent socio-political context as educators, students, and administrators navigate tensions within a multifaceted power dynamic.

Conclusions: By acknowledging the unique dilemmas in teaching across diversity, educators can cultivate a deeper understanding of the inherent challenges of AOP during social and political tensions. This awareness can advance the development of more nuanced and effective strategies to face oppression and promote social justice within our classrooms and institutions. Through the creation of "islands of support" that foster personal and professional relationships across division, we can encourage reflection and dialogue that empower educators and students to critically engage with complex social issues, hopefully contributing to meaningful and sustainable change within our communities.