Sustaining the Hyphens

From Reproducing to Restructuring Teacher Education

Abstract

With Canada’s growing population of multi-ethnic identities, fostering excellence in equity, diversity, and inclusion has become a critical priority in 21^st century education. The lived experiences of immigrant, first- and second-generation students can provide insight into the structural change that is needed to help create, sustain, and support their hyphenated identities within the higher education system. As a first-generation Tamil-Canadian, the researcher uses currere, a life writing research methodology, to analyze and synthesize their lived experience in relation to the K-12 education system and within an Ontario Teacher Education certification program. Additionally, a systematic literature review is conducted on the existing life writing works of Indigenous, Black, and/or racialized and hyphenated first and/or second-generation immigrant educators to identify patterns and trends within those lived experiences. The results yield commonalities within their educational experiences including assimilation into Western norms, misrepresentation, or erasure of non-white historical narratives and/or contributions, and an irrelevancy between academic content and students lived experiences. The research suggests that Teacher Education programs play a pivotal role in cultivating spaces that sustain future educators hyphenated identities that will later inform their teaching practices, thus, impacting healthy identity formations for their students as well.