Paper presentation at the 2024 Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association. Area of special interest: Lives of Teachers —Teacher Identity and Agency in Racially and Politically Contested Contexts

Thu, April 11, 4:20 to 5:50 pm, Philadelphia Marriott Downtown, Floor: Level 4, Room 411

Abstract

This paper examines the understudied perceptions and experiences of early childhood educators in California. Life history interviews of six teachers working in differently-funded preschool programs were conducted to better understand the lived experiences of the ECE workforce. This study theorized education policy and labor as processual and situated in a racialized and gendered political economy. Despite variations in program context and teacher preparation, the teachers shared remarkably similar conceptions of their work, suggesting a professional ECE ethos shared through practice. This common purpose undergirded teachers’ descriptions of agentic meaning-making and resistance to political and organizational encroachments on their working conditions and professional autonomy – encroachments that may intensify as California works to further standardize early education in the state.

“About the AERA 2024 Annual Meeting

Each year, the American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting is the world's largest gathering of education researchers and a showcase for groundbreaking, innovative studies in an array of areas. The 2024 Annual Meeting will be held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, April 11-14.

About the 2024 Program:
The 2024 AERA Annual Meeting offers a robust program of Presidential and AERA sessions; Division and SIG paper/symposium, roundtable, and poster sessions; and professional development courses, and off-site visits.”