(Re)creating self/(Re)creating space: A visual co/autoethnographic analysis of teacher identity in relation to learning spaces during remote learning
Abstract
Space is often defined as a fixed container for social interactions (Bissell, 2004); however, teachers use spaces to support pedagogical methods and education goals. Several researchers (e.g., Fisher, 2004; McGregor, 2004) highlight the significance of spatiality (social production and meaning of space) in reproducing structures of power. In classrooms, place-making is a spatial-pedagogical-social praxis intimately connected to a teacher’s sense of self and other in a specific geo-temporal-political, teaching-learning world (Fisher, 2004). During the COVID-19 pandemic, seismic shifts to learning space configuration heightened the visibility and lived effects of the above phenomenon as teachers were compelled to (re)create learning spaces inside schools, outside schools (e.g., at home, in outdoor classrooms), and online. Human geographers such as Harouni (2013), Massey, Allen, and Sarre (1999), McGregor (2004) conceptualize space and place as socially produced and intertwined with what it means to participate in social activities in built environments. This critical co-autoethnography explores the experiences of two teachers (one K-12, one higher education) as they (re)created self and space during the COVID-19 pandemic. Via collaborative journaling and digital photography, the authors document and analyze self/space (re)constructions informed by human geography (Escobar, 2001), performativity (Butler, 2010), and affect theory (Ahmed, 2014). Findings reveal how dynamic interplays of self/place reflect, reproduc, and/or transform social arrangements. The authors’ experiences underscore teacher reflexivity and being attuned to physical and emotional cues we receive about when and how we reproduce power imbalances through the learning environments we (re)create.
Presentation Description
Unavailable
Location
Stream B
Publication Type and Release Option
Presentation (Open Access)
Recommended Citation
Kress, Tricia and Bascelli, Emily, "(Re)creating self/(Re)creating space: A visual co/autoethnographic analysis of teacher identity in relation to
learning spaces during remote learning" (2021). Curriculum Studies Summer Collaborative. 73.
https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/cssc/2021/2021/73
(Re)creating self/(Re)creating space: A visual co/autoethnographic analysis of teacher identity in relation to learning spaces during remote learning
Stream B
Space is often defined as a fixed container for social interactions (Bissell, 2004); however, teachers use spaces to support pedagogical methods and education goals. Several researchers (e.g., Fisher, 2004; McGregor, 2004) highlight the significance of spatiality (social production and meaning of space) in reproducing structures of power. In classrooms, place-making is a spatial-pedagogical-social praxis intimately connected to a teacher’s sense of self and other in a specific geo-temporal-political, teaching-learning world (Fisher, 2004). During the COVID-19 pandemic, seismic shifts to learning space configuration heightened the visibility and lived effects of the above phenomenon as teachers were compelled to (re)create learning spaces inside schools, outside schools (e.g., at home, in outdoor classrooms), and online. Human geographers such as Harouni (2013), Massey, Allen, and Sarre (1999), McGregor (2004) conceptualize space and place as socially produced and intertwined with what it means to participate in social activities in built environments. This critical co-autoethnography explores the experiences of two teachers (one K-12, one higher education) as they (re)created self and space during the COVID-19 pandemic. Via collaborative journaling and digital photography, the authors document and analyze self/space (re)constructions informed by human geography (Escobar, 2001), performativity (Butler, 2010), and affect theory (Ahmed, 2014). Findings reveal how dynamic interplays of self/place reflect, reproduc, and/or transform social arrangements. The authors’ experiences underscore teacher reflexivity and being attuned to physical and emotional cues we receive about when and how we reproduce power imbalances through the learning environments we (re)create.
