Teaching with Passion and Compassion in Challenging Times: A Narrative Inquiry into Elementary Teachers\u27 Experiences in Georgia

This study explores how teachers maintain their passion and compassion for teaching in spite of the impact of work-related challenges and subsequent obstacles upon their personal and professional lives. While much research has been conducted into teacher stress, very little has been done to connect the effects of stress on teachers’ health and passions for teaching. Abby, Nick, Passion, and Anna, four elementary school teachers from different areas, counties, schools, and school districts in the State of Georgia, participated in the study. Theoretically, I draw upon an array of works such as teaching towards freedom (Ayers, 2004, 2010, 2016), teachers as intellectuals (Giroux, 1988a, 1988b; Giroux & McLaren, 1988), the courage to teach (Palmer, 2007), when teachers face themselves (Jersild, 1955), emotions of teacher stress (Carlyle & Woods, 2002), why we teach now (Nieto, 2003, 2008, 2014), and why great teachers quit (Farber, 2010). I also draw upon the literature that explores emotions as a response (Lazarus & Lazarus, 1994; Frijda & Mesquita, 1998; Day, 2004), race and education (Love, 2019), gender and education (McGrath, Bhana, Van Bergen, & Moosa, 2019), COVID-19: A new challenge (Carvalho & Hares, 2020), the effects of stress (Lazarus, Deese, & Osler, 1952; Selye, 1956; Lazarus and Lazarus, 1994), teachers and stress (Figley, 1995; Travers and Cooper, 1996), understanding passion (R. Vallerand, personal communication, July 1, 2016, September 3, 2018), and teaching with passion (Hargreaves, 1998; Day, 2004; Phelps & Benson, 2012). Methodologically drawing upon narrative inquiry (Connelly & Clandinin, 1990; He, 1999, 2003, 2021a; Clandinin & Connelly, 2000; Phillion & He, 2008; Clandinin & Caine, 2016; Sharma & Phillion, 2021), I gather the stories from my participants through semi-structured participant interviews, informal conversations, phone and e-mail communications relevant to the resulting effects of job challenges on their professional and personal lives. Five findings have emerged from my research. Teachers remain passionate about teaching when they build personal and working relationships with their students. Teachers remain passionate about teaching when they work in a positive school environment where teachers, administrators, staff, parents, and community members support one another. Teachers remain passionate about teaching when they maintain a healthy lifestyle and find ways to reduce their stress. Teachers remain passionate and relentless when they continue to learn and grow and further support their students even in the midst of an unprecedented pandemic. Teachers would remain in the classroom for longer periods of time if they felt supported, heard, and cared about with the intent to make a difference in the lives of children, which was the reason why they chose to teach. Listening to and learning from the stories from my participants help dive into the emotional, intellectual, moral, and physical aspects of teaching to sustain passion for teaching (e.g., Ayers, 2004, 2016a, b; He, 2010, 2018, 2021; Nieto, 2003, 2008; Palmer, 2007; Schubert, 2009) to invigorate the teaching profession in an era of fear, injustice, and political uncertainty

Teaching with Passion and Compassion in Hard Times: Narrative Inquiry

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Teaching with Passion and Compassion in An Era of Fear, Injustice, and Political Uncertainty: A Narrative Inquiry into Elementary Teachers’ Experience in Georgia

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Old Drugs with New Tricks: Efficacy of Fluoroquinolones to Suppress Replication of Flaviviruses

Repurposing FDA-approved compounds could provide the fastest route to alleviate the burden of disease caused by flaviviruses. In this study, three fluoroquinolones, enoxacin, difloxacin and ciprofloxacin, curtailed replication of flaviviruses Zika (ZIKV), dengue (DENV), Langat (LGTV) and Modoc (MODV) in HEK-293 cells at low micromolar concentrations. Time-of-addition assays suggested that enoxacin suppressed ZIKV replication at an intermediate step in the virus life cycle, whereas ciprofloxacin and difloxacin had a wider window of efficacy. A129 mice infected with 1 × 105 plaque-forming units (pfu) ZIKV FSS13025 (n = 20) or phosphate buffered saline (PBS) (n = 11) on day 0 and treated with enoxacin at 10 mg/kg or 15 mg/kg or diluent orally twice daily on days 1–5 did not differ in weight change or virus titer in serum or brain. However, mice treated with enoxacin showed a significant, five-fold decrease in ZIKV titer in testes relative to controls. Mice infected with 1 × 102 pfu ZIKV (n = 13) or PBS (n = 13) on day 0 and treated with 15 mg/kg oral enoxacin or diluent twice daily pre-treatment and days 1–5 post-treatment also did not differ in weight and viral load in the serum, brain, and liver, but mice treated with enoxacin showed a significant, 2.5-fold decrease in ZIKV titer in testes relative to controls. ZIKV can be sexually transmitted, so reduction of titer in the testes by enoxacin should be further investigated

Part I & 2: Diving into Life and Writing into Contradictions​

In this dissertation works-in-progress session, a group of researchers present their dissertation studies on a wide array of topics such as Black children’s experience of racialized mainstream schooling in the US South; how Black high school males’ experience of the mainstream curriculum informs our ways of developing a culturally sustaining pedagogy; developing culturally sustaining pedagogy for African American students in rural Georgia; and oral histories of Black students and their descendants in the Willow Hill School in rural Georgia. These researchers explore creative ways to push methodological boundaries, perform dissertation writing, and liberate academic writing by diving into life and writing into contradiction in schools, families, and communities in the U. S. South. Through visual, graphic, multimedia, and performative presentations, the presenters will illustrate diverse forms of dissertation research and representations such as counternarratives, digital ethnography, critical race narrative inquiry, critical geography/critical dis/ability studies, critical portraiture, memoir, oral history, painting, dance, fiction, poetry, spoken word, and play. Theoretical traditions, forms of inquiry, and modes of expression are particularly explored. Innovative writings engendered from the inquiries are demonstrated. Potentials, challenges, and future directions of these inquiries and representations are also discussed

WIP Panel : Diving into Life and Writing into Contradictions

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Pushing Methodological Boundaries~Liberating Academic Writing

In this symposium, multiethnic researchers from Georgia Southern University’s Ed. D. in Curriculum Studies program explore creative ways to push methodological and representational boundaries to liberate dissertation writing by diving into life and writing into contradiction in schools, families, and communities in the U. S. South. Through visual/graphic/multimedia presentations, reader’s theater, fictional narrative, freedom songs, poems, spoken word, drama, and play, the presenters will illustrate diverse forms of dissertation research and representations such as cultural studies/multipersectival cultural studies, critical geography/critical dis/ability studies, critical race narrative inquiry, personal~passionate~participatory inquiry, auto/biographical inquiry/currere, critical narrative inquiry, cross-cultural narrative inquiry, narrative multicultural inquiry, critical race photographic narrative inquiry, critical multiracial/mixed racial fictional auto/biographical inquiry, ethnographical inquiry, visual methodologies, visual/digital/sensory ethnography, visual/performative/graphic/picture/fictional narrative, photovoice, soundwalk, mobile podcasting, geotagging, poetic inquiry, womanist currere, critical portraiture, oral history, aesthetic/art-based inquiry, counternarrative, subaltern, indigenous, documentary, critical geography, speculative essay, speculative fiction, speculative memoir, speculative play, speculative poetry, and painting. Innovative writings engendered from the inquiries will be also demonstrated. Potentials, challenges, and future directions of various inquiries and representations are also discussed. Individual Presentations Within the Session: Presentation #1: Push Methodological Boundaries~Performing Dissertation Research~Liberating Academic Writing Ming Fang He & Peggy Shannon-Baker, Georgia Southern University Presentation #2: Teaching with Passion and Compassion in An Era of Fear, Injustice, and Political Uncertainty: A Narrative Inquiry into Elementary Teachers’ Experience in Georgia Erin Scroggs, Georgia Southern University Presentation #3: Black Skin, Darkened Curriculum: The Black Children’s Experience of Mainstream Schooling in Racialized Systems in the U. S. South Chanda Hadiman, Georgia Southern University Presentation #4: A Memoir: Being Mixed, Black And Filipino, and Multiracial in the U. S. South Georgia Middle School Nicole Moss, Georgia Southern University Presentation #5: “Their HighestPotential:” Oral Histories of Willow Hill Elementary--A Historically Black School in Georgia Laquanda Love, Georgia Southern University Presentation #6: Black Mothers, Black Sons: A Memoir Alethea Coleman, Georgia Southern University Presentation #7: Hyphenated Identity and Negotiated Intersectionality: A Memoir of A First-Generation Nigerian-American Male Teacher in An Inner City Title I Elementary School in Georgia Gerald Nwachukwu, Georgia Southern University Presentation #8: Educating Black Males in Black-Lives-Matter Movement Space Kimberly Hollis, Georgia Southern University Presentation #9: Counterstories: Black Male Teachers in Rural Georgia Brittany Jones-Turman, Georgia Southern University Presentation #10: Dissertation-Works-in-Progress Amanda Gonzales, Janet Cooks, Carmen Baker, Andrea Cramsey, Khristian Cooper, Lucia Benzor, Marianna Louise Anderson, and Cynthia Smith, Georgia Southern Universit

Research on Counternarratives of Curriculum in Schools, Neighborhoods, and Communities in the US South

This is a continuation of dialogue on pushing boundaries in dissertation work as we continue to research on and write about the counternarratives of curriculum of schools, neighborhoods, and communities in the U. S. South. We explore creative ways to push methodological and representational boundaries to liberate dissertation writing by diving into life and writing into contradiction in schools, families, and communities in the U. S. South. Through visual/graphic/multimedia presentations, reader’s theater, spoken word, drama, and performance, the presenters will illustrate diverse forms of dissertation research and representations such as critical race narrative inquiry, critical geography/critical dis/ability studies, critical multiracial/mixed racial fictional auto/biographical inquiry, multiperspectival poetic inquiry, multiperspectival cultural studies, womanist currere, critical portraiture, memoir, fiction, oral history, documentary film, and painting. Innovative writings engendered from the inquiries will be demonstrated. Potentials, challenges, and future directions of creative inquiries and representations will be discussed. There are three purposes to this session. One purpose of this presentation is to share our experience of moving beyond methodological and representational boundaries to liberate dissertation writing by diving into life and writing into contradiction in schools, families, and communities in the U. S. South. The second purpose is to explore creative ways to engage in and write about research and embed inquiry in school, neighborhood, and community life to transform research into positive social and educational change. Another purpose is to engage the audience from diverse research paradigms in discussions on how diverse forms of curriculum inquiry and modes of representation and expression help capture cultural, linguistic, and socio-political poetics of personal, community, and historical narrative; address pressing issues and contemporary concerns; make impact on practice, policy, and historical, social, political, economic, geographical, cultural, linguistic, and ecological contexts; and advance curriculum theorizing and praxis toward social justice. The potentials, challenges, and future directions of various inquiries and representations are also discussed. We begin with an overview of diverse forms of curriculum inquiry and modes of representation and expression with the intent to imagine and recognize possibilities to push methodological and representational boundaries to liberate dissertation writing. We then invigorate exploratory conversations on forms of inquiry modes of representation and expression that challenge traditional ways of engaging in, interpreting, and writing about research. We invite curriculum inquirers to engage in activist oriented research and writing, transcend inquiry boundaries, raise challenging questions, transgress orthodoxy and dogma, and research silenced narratives of underrepresented or disenfranchised individuals and groups with hearts and minds (Ayers, 2004, 2006; He & Ayers, 2008; hooks, 1994, 2003) to build a long term and heart felt participatory movement to promote cultural, linguistic, and ecological diversity and flourishing plurality of humanity (Schubert, 2009). The power of such inquiries and representations lies in its potential to locate experience within complex social, cultural, and linguistic contexts and enable researchers to dive into life and write into contradiction. Such inquiries and representations enable the researchers to develop a deeper understanding of cultural research phenomena, inquiry contexts, modes of inquiry, forms of representation, and possible educational and social changes engendered by research and writing. Such inquiries and representations thrive on the passionate involvement, commitment and advocacy of the researchers, and help cultivate hope and possibilities for better lives as experienced in diverse schools, families, and communities. Please list individual presentations within the session (see attached for details) Individual Presentations Within the Session: Presentation #1: Research on Counternarratives of Curriculum in Schools, Neighborhoods, and Communities in the South Ming Fang He, Georgia Southern University Presentation #2: Research on the Lived Experience of Chinese International Students at a Non-Research I University in the U. S. South Yiming Jin, Georgia Southern University (TA & Doctoral Fellow in Curriculum Studies; Email: Yiming Jin, or ) Presentation #3: Counternarratives of Students with Significant Disabilities in One Rural Elementary School in Georgia Christy Howard, Georgia Southern University (Teacher & Doctoral Candidate in Curriculum Studies; Email: Christy Howard ) Presentation #4: Counterstories of African American Students in a Racialized School System in Georgia Chanda R. Hardiman, Georgia Southern University (Teacher & Doctoral Candidate in Curriculum Studies; Emails: Chanda R. Hardiman or ) Presentation #5: Culturally Contested Curriculum? Developing Culturally Sustaining Curriculum for the Classical Education of African American Students in an Urban Georgia Middle School Ellen M. Hotchkiss, Georgia Southern University (Teacher & Doctoral Candidate in Curriculum Studies; Emails: Ellen M. Hotchkiss ) Presentation #6: Como se dice Learning: A Critical Ethnographic Linguistic Inquiry into Successful Foreign Language Learners in A Suburban Southeastern US High School Kathleen E. Barbara, Georgia Southern University (Teacher & Doctoral Candidate in Curriculum Studies; Emails: Kathleen E. Barbara ) Presentation #7: Teaching with Passion: Indigenous Thought and Storywork Ashley E. West, Georgia Southern University (Teacher & Doctoral Candidate in Curriculum Studies; Emails: Ashley E. West ) Presentation #8: Culturally Contested Curriculum? Developing Culturally Sustaining Curriculum for the Classical Education of African American Students in an Urban Georgia Middle School Mary E. Negley, Georgia Southern University (Teacher & Doctoral Candidate in Curriculum Studies; Emails: Mary Negley or ) Presentation #9: Cross-Cultural Narrative Inquiry into the Experience of Chinese Ethnic Minority Teachers Studying in US Universities Ru Li, Georgia Southern University (TA, Instructor, & Doctoral Candidate in Curriculum Studies; Emails: Ru Li ) Presentation #10: Using Fiction in High School English Language Classrooms Eden A. Evans, Georgia Southern University (Teacher & Doctoral Candidate in Curriculum Studies; Emails: Eden A. Evans or ) Presentation #11: Languages, Cultures, and Identities: Experiences of HBCU Students in a Study Abroad Program in Costa Rica Irina Tedrick, Georgia Southern University (University Instructor & Doctoral Candidate in Curriculum Studies; Emails: Irina Tedrick or ) Presentation #12: Place, Space, and the Education of Auditory-Oral Deaf Students in the Inclusion Classrooms: A Teacher’s Performative Memoir Tracy L. Edenfield, Georgia Southern University (Teacher & Doctoral Candidate in Curriculum Studies; Emails: Tracy L. Edenfield or ) Presentation #13: Teaching with Passion and Compassion: Stories of Successes, Obstacles, and Dreams of Dedicated Educators in Public Schools in Georgia Erin P. Scroggs, Georgia Southern University (Teacher & Doctoral Candidate in Curriculum Studies; Emails: Erin P. Scroggs or ) Presentation #14: Between Suicide and Murder : Post-Structural Reflections on Language Learning, Power, and Alterity Jennifer J. Bowers, Georgia Southern University (Teacher & Doctoral Candidate in Curriculum Studies; Emails: Jennifer J. Bowers or ) Presentation #15: Exploring Unwanted Roads Traveled on the Curriculum Roadmap of Life Katherine F. Wyatt, Georgia Southern University (Teacher & Doctoral Candidate in Curriculum Studies; Emails: Katherine F. Wyatt or ) Presentation #16: Joys and Fears of A Black Mother Raising Her Son in the US South: A Memoir Alethea Coleman, Georgia Southern University (Teacher & Doctoral Candidate in Curriculum Studies; Emails: Alethea Coleman