Changing the Dominant Narrative: A Call for Using Storytelling as Language and Literacy Theory,Research Methodology,and Practice

Abstract

This special themed issue illuminates the pivotal role the STAR (Scholars of Color Transitioning Into Academic Research Institutions) program has played in our trajectories as early career scholars of Color. Moreover, the editorial will showcase how STAR served as a space of contestation and humanization for six racially, ethnically, and linguistically diverse scholars who have separate but interrelated stories that foreground issues in the field of language and literacy education. To conclude, this article will provide the field with innovative approaches for venturing into new literacies and ways of knowing.

Keywords

race and ethnicity critical literacies critical race theory

Prologue: Am I a Literacy Scholar?

I felt confident in my self-identification as a literacy researcher. But, I wondered how I could get others to recognize my scholarly identity as existing at the intersection of the study of bilingualism and adolescent literacy. My thoughts centered around how to show this identity to other people and how to get them to recognize how I see myself as a scholar. (Maneka Brooks, 2015-2017 STAR cohort member)

When I heard this question at first, my initial reaction was “Maybe I am not.” My experiences of deficit and racialized discourses about people of Color as a foreign-born international scholar in American universities made me think that I am not a qualified literacy researcher and educator in the United States. I have never realized that the issue is not isolated to international scholars like me but [is] an issue for all scholars of Color until the discussion among six of us with our mentors. (Bong Gee, 2015-2017 STAR cohort member)

This question is a constant struggle for me. As an early career scholar, I understand literacy from a younger generational perspective, which is often challenged by seasoned literacy scholars and only encouraged by few radical scholars in the field. My perspectives are not always accepted or encouraged by scholars of Color and this is sometimes disappointing for me. Being in a room with young scholars of Color was refreshing. It was encouraging to have support from these other scholars and not feel the often competitive nature that young scholars are forced to have in academia. (Bonnie Farrier, 2015–2017 STAR cohort member)

The question resonated with me and reinitiated my constant reflection of how significant my race and gender are to my identity, yet how they are often both challenged. Being able to safely grapple with this question at our first STAR retreat made me feel affirmed and embraced. I was excited at the idea of forming a much-needed community of other literacy scholars of Color and faculty mentors of Color who from the first moment provided much needed support and nourishment. (Theda Gibbs Grey, 2015-2017 STAR cohort member)

When this question was asked of us, I recall looking around the table at both familiar and unfamiliar faces and feeling like an imposter. Though I was excited about participating in a program that placed emphasis on my gendered racial identity, as an emerging language and literacy researcher, I was not sure if I considered myself a literacy researcher in the same ways that scholars in the field defined literacy research. I was nervous and uncomfortable but eager to learn more. (April Baker-Bell, 2015-2017 STAR cohort member)

Am I a literacy scholar? was a perennial question I asked myself prior to attending our first meeting. However, receiving this question from senior colleagues in the field pushed and challenged me to ask a few follow-up questions that I had not fully processed: (1) Whose standards and ideologies are we utilizing to define literacy? And (2) who defines and decides whether or not I am a literacy scholar and researcher? Having the space to work through and wrestle with these questions alongside a critical group of language and literacy scholars of Color not only humanized me but also confirmed and affirmed my identity as a language and literacy scholar. (Lamar L. Johnson, 2015-2017 STAR cohort member)

It was our first time meeting with our STAR¹ mentors and with each other. There we sat, six early career language and literacy scholars of Color, eager, and anxious, replaying the salient questions queried by one of our senior colleagues in the field: “Am I a literacy researcher? And, what counts as literacy research for early career scholars of Color?” These questions gave us pause. For a few seconds, we problematized and wrestled with these queries. We were six early career language and literacy scholars of Color from diverse racial, ethnic, cultural, and linguistic backgrounds. Not only were we from diverse backgrounds but also we were from different disciplines, such as secondary English education, rhetoric and composition studies, African American studies, teacher education, educational linguistics, and language arts. Although we came from different disciplines, we shared many commonalities, and two in particular: We were early career scholars of Color who encountered racial and gendered oppression within our perspective institutions and who struggled with trying to decide whether we were literacy scholars and researchers. That day, the space we were in was a space of contestation and humanization; it was the day we became the literacy scholars of Color we are in the present moment.

What Does It Mean to Be a Literacy Researcher of Color in Our Current Racial and Political Climate?

As critical literacy scholars of Color, we carry our raced, classed, and gendered formations into our classrooms. Our prior knowledge and experiences inform our philosophy of education, our conceptualization of language and literacy, and our understanding of what it means to be a literacy researcher in today’s racialized and gendered contexts. As a result, our multiple identities cannot be detached from who we are. As literacy scholars who have experienced racial and gender oppression, we are hyperaware of the many injustices that plague our society and that permeate P-20 institutions. We are reminded of injustice when we have to say the names of our murdered Black and Brown children, youth, and adults (Trayvon Martin, Jordan Davis, Terence Crutcher, Sandra Bland, Renisha McBride, Tanisha Anderson, Melissa Ventura, and countless more)—we must say their names. We are reminded of injustice when our white colleagues and students reject our scholarship and our positionality by making comments such as, “What does race have to do with literacy?” or when they refuse to recognize that people of Color are holders and producers of knowledge. We are reminded of injustice when we witness racially and linguistically diverse children and youth receive texts and literacy curriculum that stifle their humanity and wound their soul. In short, these injustices are a clear-cut reminder that this journey to justice is far from over. It reminds us that as language and literacy scholars of Color, we are deeply implicated in this quest for racial justice.

There is ample scholarship that highlights youth of Color’s prior knowledge, experiences, and language and literacy practices. Yet little is known about early career literacy scholars of Color’s prior language and literacy experiences and practices or how they navigate the academy as literacy researchers of Color (Rockquemore & Laszloffy, 2008; Turner, Walker-Dalhouse, & McMillon, 2005). Oftentimes, these stories, practices, and experiences remain untold and unheard. As early career literacy scholars at Predominantly white Institutions (PWIs), we cannot forget about, erase, or silence our individual racialized and gendered experiences. With this in mind, the work in this special issue theoretically and methodologically draws from critical race theory (CRT; Bell, 1992; Ladson-Billings, 1998; Solórzano & Yosso, 2002), AsianCrit (Kim, 2007), Afrocentric feminist epistemology (Collins, 2009), and Black feminist–womanist thought (Covington-Ward, 2013; Glenn, 2012; Haddix, 2015).

Through these frameworks, we acknowledge the racialized experiences of literacy scholars of Color and other forms of oppression (gender, class, nationality, and language) simply because of our race. As such, on one hand, in this special themed issue, we position our stories against dominant narratives and stories that perpetuate white privilege, white supremacy, and patriarchy. On the other hand, the pieces presented in this special issue contribute unique perspectives on what it means to be a literacy scholar of Color in the 21st century. Therefore, this issue is organized to respond to the following set of questions:

Research Question 1: What kind of literacy scholar am I and what counts as literacy research for early career scholars of Color?

Research Question 2: How can early career scholars of Color unapologetically make connections to equity, race, intersectionality, literacy, and learning in their teaching, research, and service?

To tackle these questions, we have utilized different literacy modes to tell and to showcase our stories. The goals of the issue are threefold:

To illustrate what we, as early career scholars of Color, know and should know when it comes to using literacy to work against systems of oppression while uplifting the humanity of racially and linguistically diverse people.

To address how we are fully committed to literacy and equity and how we successfully navigate and negotiate our research, teaching, activism, and service.

To showcase humanizing, critical, and creative stories and recommendations for literacy teacher educators.

Moreover, this special issue aligns with the commitment of the Journal of Literacy Research (JLR) to racial and social justice. In Sailors, Martinez, Davis, Goatley, and Willis’s (2017) JLR editorial, “Interrupting and Disrupting Literacy Research,” the authors contend, “Since we assumed the role as editors, we have come to a clearer articulation of our goal of JLR: disseminating research that disrupts traditional notions of literacy, literacy instruction, and literacy research” (p. 8). In addition, JLR aims to disrupt traditional paradigms and pedagogies as a way to humanize children, youth, teachers, and communities.

Storytelling Matters: Remembering Our Past, Present, and Future Selves

As contributors to this special themed issue, we use a variety of storytelling, narrative inquiry, and autoethnographic methods as the central focus of our theoretical, epistemological, and methodological approaches to literacy research. We developed this issue around the theme of storytelling because our stories as early career literacy scholars of Color matter, and they reflect our personal and lived experiences within and beyond academe. One advantage of using storytelling is that it allows us to put our collective stories in conversation with one another and against dominant narratives and stories that perpetuate white privilege, white supremacy, and patriarchy.

It is also our goal in this issue to use our various storytelling approaches to challenge and push the field of literacy research forward in our conceptualization of the following:

What counts as theory?

What counts as research?

What counts as data?

What counts as analytical methods?

Indeed, scholars across disciplines have long argued that storytelling is a suitable research methodology, especially in communities where storytelling is a literacy practice that reflects people’s theory of reality, cultural knowledge, and values. Indigenous feminist writer Lee Maracle (1990) argues that “among European scholars there is an alienated notion which maintains that theory is separate from story” (p. 3). She goes on to suggest that “there is a story in every line of theory . . . [and] if theory cannot be shown, it cannot be understood” (p. 7). Moreover, language and literacy scholar Elaine Richardson (2003) reminds us that “storytelling remains one of the most powerful language and literacy practices that Black women use to convey their special knowledge” (p. 82). Building from this school of thought, we privilege storytelling and view it as a legitimate and necessary approach to qualitative inquiry.

(Re)Claiming the Humanness in Literacy Education and Research

Although this special themed issue centers the lives and experiences of language and literacy scholars of Color, we want to be clear that the white scholar community is not exempt from our stories and this special themed issue. To be direct, it is pivotal for white teachers, researchers, and students to pay as much attention to this special issue and our lived realities as they can to address the issues of white ignorance, white fragility and guilt, whiteness, and white supremacy. Furthermore, these ideologies are social constructions that are used as obstruction and deflection techniques that impede the analysis and discourse needed to dismantle oppressive constructs. More importantly, these constructs obstruct white people from seeing the humanity within themselves. In addition, whiteness and white supremacy impede not only the humanity of white people but also that of people of Color.

It is noteworthy to mention that the experiences of scholars of Color in the United States are unique because of the historical, political, and cultural context of the United States, but there is also something to be said about the ways in which Northern notions of conducting and writing of research have colonized and continue to neocolonize people globally (e.g., Canada, New Zealand, Austria, and African countries). In short, whiteness and white supremacy extend beyond the United States and are globalized constructs that continue to inflict harm and pain on people of Color and on the global society at large (Jaafari & Lorusso, 2015). According to Johnson (2017), “whiteness seethes through P-20 spaces. The educational system is riddled with neoliberal discourses, unjust policies, and traditional pedagogies that continue to sustain whiteness while indoctrinating white people to believe the specious claims that are painted about people of Color” (p. 483). Matias and Grosland (2016) contend that “a treason to whiteness is loyalty to humanity, and a loyalty to whiteness is treason to humanity” (p. 2). As such, the contributors in this special issue present and share our stories to (re)claim and bring the humanity and the humanness back to the forefront in our work and to literacy education and research.

Storytelling Manifested: Descriptions of the Narratives of Six Literacy Scholars of Color

In this special issue, we lift up the rich and complex stories of the six literacy scholars of Color in the 2015-2017 STAR cohort. Each scholar writes in response to detailing her or his experiences as a literacy scholar of Color and how he or she navigates the academy. Their stories extend beyond the individual as they address how these individual experiences are also representative of systemic issues relative to race, class, nationality, language, and gender. The scholars each utilize various methods of storytelling and analyze their lived experiences utilizing frameworks that center race and, importantly, offer a critique of race.

Johnson opens up the special issue with his poignant piece, “The Racial Hauntings of One Black Male Professor and the Disturbance of the Self(ves): Self-Actualization and Racial Storytelling as Pedagogical Practices.” Throughout the article, he discusses the significance of racial hauntings or racialized experiences that are etched into the memory of scholars of Color from their past and present. He then affirms and offers up racial storytelling as not only a space for healing but also as a methodological medium for faculty to advance research that focuses on the salience of race in their lives. Johnson also demonstrates the effectiveness of racial storytelling as a valid storytelling methodology through detailing stories from his childhood as well as his experiences as a Black male professor.

In the piece that follows, “#SippingTea: Two Black Female Literacy Scholars Sharing Counterstories to Redefine Our Roles in the Academy,” Farrier and Gibbs Grey “sip tea,” or share and analyze their experiences as Black Women literacy scholars through their recreation of a dialogic performance. They do so by utilizing Afrocentric feminist epistemology and CRT as storytelling methodologies that provide the space to acknowledge the significance and intersections of race and gender. Farrier and Gibbs Grey critically unpack their experiences and relationships with students, with colleagues, and with themselves and utilize these experiences to offer a pathway forward in supporting the success of Black women scholars.

Baker-Bell continues to illuminate the experiences of Black women scholars in “For Loretta: A Black Woman Literacy Scholar’s Journey to Prioritizing Self-Preservation and Black Feminist/Womanist Storytelling.” She forwards Black feminist-womanist storytelling methods to detail poignant experiences from her first 3 years as a Black female literacy scholar focused on balancing her commitment to the academy, her family, and herself. Through her autoethnographic narrative, she critically deconstructs socially imposed notions of what it means to be a Black woman drawn from her personal experience and offers healing and self-preservation wisdom for other Black women scholars.

Brooks continues to propel the conversation forward as she critically discusses and analyzes her experience as a Black and Sri Lankan woman utilizing narrative inquiry. Through “Another Kind of Other: On Being a Multiracial Cross-Cultural Researcher,” she draws our attention to the underrepresentation of narratives authored by multiracial scholars whose research centers on communities with different racial identities from their own. She details how explorations of race and identity from her childhood, during her doctoral studies, and as a literacy scholar have shaped her self-defining views of community that have actualized on her own terms.

Jang brings the special issue to a close in “From Alien Learners to Alien Teachers and Scholars: A Counter-Story of a Professional Journey of One International Literacy Scholar in the United States.” He also points to the paucity of research that focuses on the nuances of the lived experiences of scholars of Color. Jang importantly widens the conversation even further by detailing his experiences as an Asian, international, and bilingual literacy scholar. He offers up AsianCrit and CRT’s counter-storytelling as methodological tools to expose linguistic, cultural, and nationality-based stereotypes and how they influence his teaching and research.

In short, this special themed issue is pivotal because of the lack of literature centered around the challenges, struggles, and triumphs of remaining human while working in/through/against the academy for literacy scholars of Color. Furthermore, our pieces in this special issue will help our profession and our institutions to think more deeply about the needs of pretenure scholars of Color and what can be done differently to better serve us.

Therefore, the collection of pieces presented in this issue illuminate JLR’s conception of literacy, K-12 English language arts, and English education. Collectively, our pieces serve multiple purposes and are meant to provide a unified sense of solidarity not only for ourselves but also for our fellow scholars of Color with similar identities and scholars whose experiences mirror ours. Similarly, this special themed issue is pivotal because of the lack of literature centered around the challenges, struggles, and triumphs of remaining human while working in/through/against the academy for literacy scholars of Color. Commitment to providing encouragement and support for other scholars is evidenced in our sharing of words of affirmation and tools for success thoughtfully woven throughout several of the articles. Framed by rich and diverse storytelling methodologies, our stories give credence to and demonstrate the importance of utilizing storytelling as a valid methodological tool within qualitative research. The six featured articles in the special issue also evidence the ways in which storytelling has served as a tool for healing for each of the scholars. Ultimately, the sharing of our stories has the power to propel the academy forward as it works toward honoring the voices of all scholars and toward dismantling systems of oppression within the academy. In closing, the contributing authors will offer humanizing and practical implications and recommendations for literacy research and education that is justice oriented, critical, and reflexive.

Footnotes

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Funding

The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Notes

Author Biographies

Lamar L. Johnson is an assistant professor of language and literacy for linguistic and racial diversity at Michigan State University. He explores the complex intersections of anti-Black racism, race, language, literacy, and education. His scholarly interests center on the language and literacy practices of Black youth in secondary ELA classrooms. Johnson’s work is featured in Race Ethnicity and Education, Literacy Research: Theory, Methods, and Practice, English Education, and English Journal. In addition, Johnson is the recipient of the 2017 Promising Researcher Award through the National Council of Teachers of English. He is currently the Parliamentarian of the Literacy Research Association.

ThedaMarie D. Gibbs Grey’s research explores the importance of creating and sustaining more equitable learning spaces that embrace the literacies and lived experiences of Black youth both in and beyond school. Through a second line of research, she explores how teacher preparation programs prepare prospective teachers to develop culturally relevant teaching practices in all content areas, with an emphasis on reading courses.

April Baker-Bell is an assistant professor at Michigan State University who thinks, teaches, and writes about racial and linguistic justice. The primary goal of her professional work is to provide a pathway to cultural, linguistic, racial, and educational justice for Black students across K-U (Kindergarten and University) settings, and, by extension, the Black community and other communities of color. In her research, she strives to present the fields in which she works guidance for rethinking the linguistic and racial deficit theories that underpin and shape disciplinary discourses, pedagogical practices, and approaches to qualitative inquiry.

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